Citizen at core of government priorities, minister affirms

Manama, Oct. 28 (BNA): Information and Parliament Affairs Minister Isa bin Abdulrahman Al Hammadi has affirmed the Government puts the citizen at the core of its priorities in any development project. He said the gas subsidy had been lifted from factories and major companies some months before the redirection of meat subsidy in favour of citizens. Speaking during the Council of Representatives regular session, Al Hammadi said: "The meat subsidy had been redirected. What happened in the past was that non-citizens and commercial establishments and companies benefited, but now it has been redirected to the citizens. Maybe the door of discussion is still open regarding implementation mechanisms; nonetheless, the principle is agreed by the government and the legislature." There is no discrimination in the government's implementation of subsidy redirection policy, and the Ministry of Social Development earlier announced that the cash amount would be transferred to the family breadwinner, which confirms the government's steady commitment to its policy to ensure citizens' rights, he added The minister affirmed the government's commitment to implementing its action plan according to the constitution and the legislative assembly's approval, pointing out that "during the sessions of the discussion of the government action plan, there was a clearly expressed government policy endorsed by the Council of Representatives related to both the economic and financial aspects, which are boosting government revenues and curbing expenditures. "The first move addressed the recurrent expenses for government bodies and ministries by means of restructuring the government system and the second move is about the government redirection of subsidy to the eligible categories and sectors." The government began by applying the new directions on itself and took a host of measures, and following the cabinet reshuffle, there was a merger of more than ten governmental bodies as an initial phase which will reflect positively in terms of reduction of government expenditures, Al Hammadi added. Task forces were formed to reduce government expenses without affecting manpower because most of the employees in the government sectors are Bahraini citizens." Both streams of action stipulated in the government action plan aim to implement sustainable financial policy in view of oil price fluctuations, increasing government revenues without affecting the citizen. "A joint committee was formed with the Council to consider issues related to the redirection of subsidy. Data was exchanged and questions were answered. The committee's task has not ended yet, and the government announced during the meetings with the committee its intent to move onto the core of meat subsidy redirection, in particular, to the space of implementation whilst maintaining the door open to the revision of the implementation process." The minister said the government has not begun with the meat subsidy redirection policy, but rather with gas subsidy redirection aimed at factories and companies as per the Minister of Energy's resolution. "Now, we are in the phase of lifting the gas commodity subsidy to match global market rates and alleviate the existing pressure on the expenditures in the budget during the current session." Finance Minister Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa asked the MPs to effectively contribute in partnership with the government to confronting the economic and financial challenges, expressing his optimism at the existence of promising investment opportunities and the creation of new quasi-economic sectors. "In our vision at the Finance Ministry, we believe that tourism, logistic services and businessmen's service could form the basis of a huge economic drive. We need to cooperate since we are partners in serving the citizen. We are ready to discuss the measures that protect Bahrain and protect the citizen in the upcoming period," he said. "In the past, the government took its decisions alone, and succeeded in dealing with various crises. Today, a huge challenge is in ahead of us, but we have the chance which is the creation of economic drives for the economy in Bahrain in the next two decades. In my view, there are many potential opportunities in investments and new sectors. The government's role is to serve the citizen. This service may take different forms, most important of which is to ensure the overall economy. All of us are committed to serve Bahrain. The biggest challenge facing us is the plummeting oil prices below $50. In the previous budgets, there were many demands for programmes which we agreed upon with you because they were programmes that serve citizens," he added. The minister went on to say: "We are partners with you in serving the citizens, and there is no doubt about this matter. However, when oil revenue drops by more than half, we should move immediately to protect the citizen himself. We are glad to participate with you in the discussion aimed to reach resolutions to protect Bahrain which we strive to safeguard. Hence, the resolution to lift the ceiling of the public debt to $7 billion and also the bill of resolution aimed to increase the ceiling to $10 billion. These amounts reflect obligatory financial commitments payable every month. The government dealt with the gas issue and gradually increased its price so that companies and factories would be able to cope with this increase. There are many programmes which you will see in future. The government affirms it has begun with itself and not with the citizen in terms of expenditure cuts." Industry and Commerce Minister Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani said: "As regards meat importers, we have made it clear that there were 69 commercial registrations (CRs) for meat importers in the Kingdom. These CRs are existent and active. The holders of these CRs are free to carry out their business or to abstain. We believe in the state of institutions and the law and that everybody is free and responsible for his own decision." He added that a meeting was held with the Bahrain Livestock Company (BLC) which had requested a meeting three months ago and meetings have regularly been held ever since. When meat dealers requested a meeting with us, an appointment was set within 48 hours. "In fact, a meeting was held last week. It was I who requested them to discuss the conditions of sale and purchase with the company. The conditions were amended with the company and agreed between them. Our role as ministry is to stand neutral and consider the public interest," the minister said.