Information Minister hails Interior Ministry's efforts

Manama, July6 (BNA): The Ministry of Interior is resolved to continue strenuous efforts to maintain Bahrain's security and protect lives and properties, Information Affairs Minister Isa Abdulrahman Al-Hammadi said. In a press conference following the weekly Cabinet meeting, he commended the Interior Ministry's ongoing and continuous efforts throughout the year, paying tribute to volunteers who rallied to help the security forces protect mosques and worshiping venues on Friday. "Last Friday, there was strong cooperation between the community and the security agencies", he said, describing that as a message reflecting Bahrainis' resolve to confront the scourges of violence and terrorism. Cooperation between the community and the security forces is not restricted to Friday prayers as it covers also all religious and national events, he added. Regarding the alleged arrest of a group which was plotting to target religious events, the minister stressed the importance of obtaining information from credible official sources. He hailed the efforts of the Interior Ministry to inform the public and keep them updated about any developments, stressing the need to seek information from official sources and pay no heed to rumors and allegations. He said the Interior Ministry announced that it would take legal action against anyone who spreads rumors, incites on hatred or discredits any social segment through social media. The minister stressed the initiatives of certain clubs which embarked on investment projects – in coordination with official authorities – as part of efforts to generate their own revenues. He underlined the policy of the Ministry of Youth and Sport Affairs which encourages such a drive, saying that the Cabinet discussed a memo suggesting to consider the cost price for youth clubs for youth centres and clubs regarding power consumption. The memo had been referred to the ministerial financial committee for more scrutiny. The minister underlined the effective cooperation between the executive and legislative branches of government which paved the way for the two-year budget (2015-2016) to be officially endorsed, describing the constructive procedure as reflecting Bahrain's advanced democratic practices. Regarding the budget deficit, Al-Hammadi stressed plans to redirect subsidies so as to ease the pressure on the budget, reduce the deficit and slash unnecessary expenditure in different government departments and explore other alternatives to develop non-oil sources of revenues. He added that such a package of programmes and measures would be discussed in the coming period with the legislature. The minister highlighted plans to redirect meat subsidies next month (August), explaining that the measure would continue to benefit Bahraini citizens. He stressed official drive to protect citizens' benefits and assets and said that the medium and low-income families would not be affected by the measure which will be enforced on big companies, factories and non-Bahrainis as part of a sustainable financial policy. Asked about the criticism targeting certain programmes, the minister said that all production broadcast on official media channels undergo evaluation. He pointed out that the Ministry of Information Affairs assigned a team to coordinate with a specialised firm and survey the viewers' opinions concerning TV and radio programmes, "All programmes will be re-evaluated, taking into account remarks and comments", he said, highlighting initial plans to telecast the "Hot& Cold" programme in fifteen episodes only. He stressed the efforts of the Information Affairs Authority (IAA) staff to concoct Ramadan programmes despite the delay of the allotted budget.