Cabinet reiterates support for Yemen’s legitimacy, unity

His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has welcomed the results of the official Bahraini-Yemeni talks, held during the visit of his Yemeni counterpart, Dr. Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr, to the Kingdom.

HRH the Prime described those official talks as constructive and valuable regarding their importance in enhancing bilateral relations and serving the common interests of the two brotherly countries.

The Prime Minister emphasised the firm stance of the Kingdom of Bahrain, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, in support of Yemen’s unity, territorial integrity and constitutional legitimacy, led by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
HRH Premier also stressed Bahrain’s continuous support to Yemen, alongside brotherly countries within the Saudi-led Arab Coalition, in order to overcome the challenges of the current situation.

Chairing the regular weekly Cabinet session at the Gudaibiya Palace today, HRH the Prime Minister instructed the Bahrain Haj Mission to provide all kinds of care, services and assistance to Bahraini pilgrims to enable them to perform Haj rituals easily and comfortably.
In this context, the Premier lauded the commendable efforts exerted by the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, and the huge facilities it is providing to ensure that pilgrims perform Haj rituals easily, a post-session statement by the Cabinet Secretary-General, Dr. Yasser bin Isa Al-Nasser, said.

The session condemned the tragic terrorist van attack that took place in the Spanish city of Barcelona and left many people killed or wounded.
The Cabinet extended sincere condolences to the Spanish King, Government and people, affirming Bahrain’s solidarity with friendly Spain and backing of all the measures it takes to confront such evil acts and safeguard its security and stability. It also reiterated the Kingdom’s principled stance in rejecting violence, extremism and terrorism, and call for stepping up efforts to eradicate them.

HRH Premier gave directives to the relevant sides to work on achieving self-sufficiency in some food, animal and agricultural products, developing national industries and reviving industries that depend on traditional Bahraini food products, such as date-packing.
The Cabinet got assured about the safety of imported food and products and was informed that the kingdom is free from eggs contaminated with fipronil pesticide which have spread across Europe. It decided to halt the import of eggs from such countries until they are confirmed fipronil-free.
HRH the Prime Minister instructed the relevant authorities to take all the necessary pre-emptive measures in order to implement the import freeze.

Tackling development issues, HRH Premier requested service ministers to make field visits to the Southern Governorate’s villages of Askar, Jaw and Al-Dur, to identify their needs regarding facilities, infrastructure and services, and address shortcomings.

On environment, the session approved a proposal to classify waste into two categories, namely “hazardous” and “non-hazardous”, and cancel the “semi-hazardous” category included in Edict 10/1998 on environment-related licensing fees. Fees levied on semi-hazardous waste disposal were cancelled.

The Cabinet referred a draft edict on amending table 1 annexed to Edict 10/1998 on the licenses issued by Environment Affairs Department and the services it provides, based on a recommendation submitted by the Ministerial Committee for Financial Affairs and Rationalising Expenditure and highlighted in the memorandum presented by Deputy Premier and committee chairman in this regard.

The Cabinet also endorsed a recommendation made by the same committee, and based on the legal opinion of the Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission, on financing the construction and maintenance of roads, side streets and internal streets from the budget of the Municipalities Affairs, being among joint municipal services.

The session followed up on the progress of the implementation of 30 resolutions referred to the Ministerial Committee for Urbanisation and Infrastructure in 2016 and the first half of 2017 on housing, development and municipal projects, as well as on educational facilities, marine wealth, food security, youth centres and roads and sanitation services.
A report by the deputy premier and committee chairman said that 19 resolutions had been finalised, while the implementation of 11 others is underway.

The committee was requested to follow up on efforts to meet the needs of the Duraz, Jannousann, Um Al-Hassam, Sitra and Nabih Saleh from services and housing projects. Those needs were determined during the field visits carried out, upon the Premier’s directives, by the Minister of Housing.

The Cabinet referred to the Council of Representatives a draft law on amending the Penal Code, promulgated by Decree-Law 15/1975, along with a memorandum on the government’s opinion on the matter.

The Cabinet discussed three proposals submitted by the Council of Representatives concerning the expenses of postgraduate studies at the University of Bahrain, traffic awareness campaigns and deductions for customers with electricity and water arrears.
The session approved the government's replies to the proposals, as recommended by the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs.

Source:BNA