Cabinet hails HM King’s UK visit

Manama, May 14 (BNA): The Cabinet has extended deepest congratulations to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier, and the Bahraini people on the holy month of Ramadan. Chaired by HRH the Prime Minister, at the Gudaibiya Palace today, the Cabinet session wished Bahraini leaders and people, as well as the Arab and Muslim nations many blessings and happy returns, marking the auspicious occasion. Then, HRH the Prime Minister lauded HM King Hamad’s visit to the United Kingdom, and his meeting with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, highlighting the role of such visits in strengthening and deepening the long-standing relations between the two friendly countries, a post-session statement by the Secretary-General of the Cabinet, Dr. Yaser bin Essa Al-Nasser, said. HRH Premier, while commenting on his field visits to various regions to collect first-hand information about the level of government services and to identify the citizens’ needs there, including his recent visit to Hidd, gave directives to the Housing Ministry and other relevant authorities to expedite the implementation of the Hidd Housing project, distribute its units to beneficiaries and complete the services, facilities and projects that serve the citizens there. HRH Premier also gave directives to meet the citizens’ needs regarding all services, stressing that their voice should always be heard at ministries, government departments and services entities which, he said, have to take the initiative and respond to the remarks and complaints raised in the media without delay. In this regard, the Prime Minister instructed the competent government departments to examine the citizens’ remarks in Al-Buhair concerning power cuts and those of the Al-Qala’a village concerning housing, and to solve them. Tackling economic issues, HRH the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of the investment forum, Gateway Gulf, held recently under the auspices of HRH the Crown Prince, in attracting investments to the kingdom, and in promoting the investment opportunities in Bahrain and other brotherly countries in the region. On health, HRH Premier stressed the need to take quality into account while purchasing medicines and to tighten control and monitoring on medicine purchases to verify their effectiveness and safe use, within the frameworks set by the World Health Organisation. In this context, the Prime Minister instructed the Ministry of Health to coordinate with the Supreme Council of Health, represented by the National Committee for the Unified Purchase of Drugs and the National Health Regulatory Authority, regarding the matter. The Cabinet reviewed the memoranda on its agenda and took the following resolutions: Bahrain’s Terror List expanded The session, following a memorandum presented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, added new individuals and entities to Bahrain’s Terror List, and mandated the competent authorities to take the necessary actions. 41 infrastructure projects put out to tender in Q 1/2018 As part of the Cabinet’s keenness to follow-up on the progress of government projects aiming to provide high-quality infrastructure that meets Bahrain’s present and future needs in the roads, sanitation and construction sectors, the Minister of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning gave a presentation about the projects that had been put out to tender in the first quarter of this year. According to the minister, 41 infrastructure projects, worth BD 52 million, were put out to tender during the first quarter, 34 of which, valued at more than BD 148 million, have been awarded. ARC-WH budget approved The Cabinet approved the budget of the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH) to continue its role in preserving global human heritage in the Arab world, as highlighted in the memorandum submitted by the Minister of Cabinet Affairs. GEN branch opening discussed The session discussed the opening of a Bahrain branch for the Washington, DC-based Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), and referred the memorandum submitted in this regard by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs. GCU registration in Bahrain endorsed The Cabinet endorsed the registration of the Gulf Chemists Union (GCU) in Bahrain and instructed the competent authorities to take the necessary procedures, as recommended by the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs and presented by the Deputy Prime Minister and the committee Chairman. Three draft-laws referred to Legislature The Cabinet referred three draft-laws to the Legislative Branch, along with the government’s replies to them. They included a bill on the Bahrain Future Generations Fund, prepared based on a proposal by the Shura Council, a draft-law on adding a new article to the Civil Service Law (15 bis), promulgated by Decree-Law 48/2010, submitted by the Council of Representatives, and a bill on amending Article 22 of Decree-Law 25/1998 on Private Educational and Training Institutions, also proposed by the Council of Representatives.