HRH Premier chairs cabinet session

Manama, Nov. 30 (BNA): His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has been congratulated by the cabinet on leaving the hospital following the successful medical check-ups he underwent recently. On behalf of the cabinet, Deputy Premier HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa extended heartfelt congratulations to HRH Premier, and prayed to Allah the Almighty to bless him with abundant good health and full recovery in order to carry on his remarkable contributions to the progress boom witnessed by the kingdom. Chairing at the Gudaibiya Palace today the regular weekly cabinet session, HRH the Prime Minister extended thanks and appreciation to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa for his interest and care during the medical check-ups. HRH Premier also thanked the citizens for their sentiments and the feelings of love and loyalty they expressed towards him. "This will strengthen our determination and resolve to exert more efforts to serve this nation and its people," the Premier said. On investment, HRH the Prime Minister tasked the Ministerial Committee for Financial Affairs and Rationalising Expenditure to follow up on the implementation of the practical and technical procedures he had ordered during his recent open meeting with businessmen and investors at the centre to ensure fast-tracked issuance of investors' licenses at the Bahrain Investors' Centre and Municipal One Stop Shop, Secretary-General of the Cabinet Dr. Yaser bin Essa Al-Nasser said in a statement following the session. HRH Premier praised the success of Jewellery Arabia 2015, and commended the efforts of the organisers and security authorities in this regard, highlighting the importance of such specialised exhibitions in enhancing the kingdom's status as a hub of the conferences and exhibitions industry. The Premier also underscored the importance of the GCC e-Government Conference and Exhibition 2015 in highlighting the leading position and strides of Bahrain and the Gulf Cooperation Council's countries in the field of e-Government services which, he said, have been widely appreciated by specialised international agencies. The cabinet then discussed the reasons that led to the pooling of rain water in some areas of the country recently, as well as the remedial procedures taken so far to avoid that in the future. In this regard, the session instructed the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning and the Ministry of Housing to coordinate in order to fast-track the completion of the rainwater drainage project. At a cost of BD 8.5 million, the project aims to drain 55 rainwater puddle sites in the four governorates, including the central regions. It is expected to be completed before the end of 2016. The session also called for devising an emergency plan to deal with abnormal rainfall quantities and to create a network for rainwater in each housing project and link them to the main network before their handover. The Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning was requested to conduct the maintenance of the rainwater networks in which rainwater puddles were detected recently. The ministry will also have to conduct regular maintenance works for all rainwater drainage networks across the kingdom. The Ministerial Committee for Urbanisation and Infrastructure was instructed to follow up on the implementation of the aforesaid procedures featuring in two reports submitted by the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning and the Ministry of Housing, and presented by the Housing Minister. The session praised the on-going cooperation and coordination among various service ministries and departments, including the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning and the Ministry of Housing, regarding their speedy dealing with the consequences of the recent rainfalls. The progress of the implementation of the 655 projects included in the Government Action Plan (GAP) took centre stage during today's session. Statistics revealed that 28% of the GAP projects have been completed, which indicates that the implementation process has been accelerated since some projects were finalised ahead of the schedule. Only 31 out of the 655 projects (5%) have not been completed yet, but their implementation process has exceeded 80%, the government's e-system monitoring and following up on the implementation progress showed, as outlined in the report submitted by the Cabinet Affairs Minister. The statistics also showed that 216 out of the 325 prioritised projects are still under implementation, and that 32% will be completed in 2915, while 43% in 2016, 15% in 2017 and 13% in 2018. Figures show that 299 GAP projects fall within the least important category in terms of implementation as they are continuous and cover administrative projects implemented within one ministry or government department. The session was assured that there was no delayed project included in GAP. HRH the Prime Minister issued directives to put forward indicators that measure the performance of each ministry and government department regarding the implementation of GAP projects. The session then approved the ratification of four Arab conventions. They included the Arab Anti-Corruption Convention, the Arab Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, the Arab Convention on Combating Information Technology Offences and the Arab Convention for the Transfer of Inmates at Penal and Correctional Institutions within the framework of implementing the penal codes. The cabinet decided to refer four draft-laws on the ratification of the aforesaid conventions to the Legislative Branch according to constitutional and legal procedures in force. The session also endorsed a draft agreement between Bahrain and India on cooperation on international terrorism, transnational organised crime, illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances including their precursor chemicals. The Interior Minister was commissioned to sign the agreement on behalf of the Government of Bahrain. The cabinet referred a draft law on the establishment of the General Food Authority, proposed by the Council of Representatives, to the Legislative Branch, along a memorandum including the government's opinion on it. The session discussed proposals submitted by the Council of Representatives. They included the establishment of a sports walkway in Hamad Town, the acquisition of land for Al Najma Club and procedures to protect the citizens.