Cabinet stresses Executive-Legislature consensus on subsidy restructuring

His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has lauded the sound royal directives asserting that the restructuring of government subsidies to benefit eligible Bahraini families and citizens should be through consensus between the Executive and the Legislature.
Chairing the regular weekly Cabinet session at the Gudaibiya Palace today, HRH Premier stressed the government’s keenness on consolidating government-parliament partnership in all aspects, and on strengthening the existing full cooperation between the two branches.
The Prime Minister also affirmed the government’s desire to reach consensus with the Legislative Branch on subsidy-restructuring mechanism and criteria that ensure that only the neediest benefit from subsidies in order to optimise the gains of Bahraini families and citizens from them, a post-session statement by the Cabinet Secretary-General, Dr. Yasser bin Isa Al-Nasser, said.
The Cabinet was notified by the Deputy Premier and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Financial Affairs and Rationalising Expenditure, about the outcomes of the first government-parliament coordination meeting on subsidy restructuring.
HRH the Prime Minister praised the successful visit of the Saudi Interior Minister, HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, to Bahrain, and highlighted its importance in enhancing security cooperation between the two brotherly countries.
The Prime Minister also hailed the successful visit of Kuwait’s First Deputy Premier and Defence Minister to Bahrain and stressed its importance in strengthening brotherly bilateral cooperation in the military and defence fields.
Tackling development issues, HRH Premier gave directives to pay more attention to central markets in Bahrain in terms of facilities and services, given their importance in providing the needs of citizens.
In this regard, the Prime Minister was updated about the revamp and renewal of the Manama Central Market, instructing the Minister of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning to expedite the renovation of the market while taking into consideration the requirements and interests of merchants and stall-owners there.
While reviewing memoranda on the session’s agenda, HRH the Prime Minister was informed about the outputs of education and training and the efforts being exerted to preserve their quality level through the implementation of the appropriate standards and evaluating the performance of public and private schools and universities, as well as training institutions.
In this regard, the Cabinet approved the annual report of the Education and Training Quality Authority (BQA), including an overall evaluation of the educational and training system in Bahrain, in addition to the results of the National Exams, as highlighted in the memorandum presented by the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications and Deputy Chief Executive of the BQA.
The session commended the efforts exerted by the Supreme Council for the Development of Education and Training, presided over by Deputy Premier, HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, the Education Ministry, the Labour and Social Development Ministry and BQA.
On recruiting staff for private health facilities, the Cabinet approved a plan to give priority to adequately qualified and experienced Bahraini medical staff, including doctors, technicians and nurses.
In this context, the session endorsed a draft-law on amending Article 14 of Decree-Law 21/2015 on Private Health Institutions, prepared based on a proposal by the Council of Representatives, and referred it to the Legislative Branch.
The Cabinet approved the termination of the development and production-sharing agreement to develop the Bahrain Field between the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) and the Oil and Gas Holding Company, and the signing of new services contracts between them.
The move, outlined in the memorandum submitted by the Oil Minister and based on a recommendation by the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs, aims to regulate the operation of the Bahrain Field to ensure that all oil and gas resources in Bahrain are owned by the government.
The session approved the Kingdom’s accession to the Agreement for the Promotion, Protection and Guarantee of Investments among the Member States of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, as recommended by the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs.
The Cabinet endorsed a draft resolution on the model regulation of the youth centres and entities reporting to the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs.
The regulation regulates the work of these centres and entities according to clearly defined legal procedures within the framework of the supervision of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs, as recommended by the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs in its memorandum submitted by the Minister of Education and Deputy-Chairman of the panel based on a presentation by the Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs.
The session also discussed Bahrain’s ratification of the two protocols amending the Universal Postal Convention, signed in 2012 and 2016, respectively.
The two protocols will be referred to the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs, based on a presentation by the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications.
A Bahrain-Morocco agreement on air services between and beyond their respective territories was also discussed and referred to the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs.
The Cabinet also discussed ways to strengthen cooperation with the United Nations (UN), through supporting its youth-oriented programmes, which will reflect positively on the youth’s participation in development, and increasing their awareness of their issues, in light of a memorandum presented by the Youth and Sports Affairs.
The Cabinet discussed a draft-law which had been drafted based on proposals by the Council of Representatives, on the Dilapidated Houses Financing Fund, and another on amending Article 5 bis of the Municipalities Law issued by Decree-Law 35/2001.
The two bills will be referred to the Council of Representatives, along with memoranda on the government’s opinions on each of them.
The session also endorsed a proposal to ensure easy procedures for charity associations and institutions regarding their charitable services.

Source: BNA