The weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday said the national consensus dialogue would usher in a new era for Bahrain with more prosperous future.
His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa praised the royal initiative calling for a national consensus dialogue led by parliament Chairman Khalifa Al Dhahrani.
“The government will do its utmost to ensure success of the dialogue,” the Cabinet pledged urging to provide a favourable climate to reach common goals and visions revolving around the nation’s supreme interest and unity.
A decision has also been made to cancel ministers’ holidays during the next period to ensure the government’s continuous follow-up on the dialogue and contribute to its success.
HRH the Prime Minister instructed to boost the trade momentum by removing all obstacles to it and promote economic fields, including mainly the construction sector. He directed to adopt mechanisms to ensure availability of construction materials like cement which, he said, should be imported according to the market’s demands. He also hailed the role of Saudi Arabia in providing Bahrain with such materials.
The ministerial council congratulated students on their success and good results hailing the efforts of the Education Ministry to finish the academic year successfully and as planned.
As part of the government’s efforts to optimize health services and combat chronic diseases, HRH the Prime Minister directed the Health Ministry to set up effective schemes to fight the sickle-cell disease and minimize contraction of it, urging to avail of international experiences in this regard.
The Cabinet reviewed the social insurance system and called for more effective means to be adopted to ensure low and medium-income families benefit from social aids provided by the government.
With this regard, the council reviewed recommendations by the ministerial committee for financial and economic affairs and listened to a presentation by representatives from the World Bank on a study conducted in cooperation with the Social Development Ministry regarding a new policy to boost the government’s subsidization system.
The Cabinet approved raising the Housing Bank’s capital from BD 15 million to BD 108.3 million which will be covered from retained profits. It also agreed the transfer of BD 46.7 million from the bank’s account to its legal reserve account.
The move aims to boost the Housing Bank’s role in catering to citizens’ housing needs by optimizing use of retained profits.
The ministerial council approved Bahrain’s hosting of a regional forum on secondary students in the GCC countries as well as international assessment trends.
It also approved and referred to the legislative power a draft law to ratify a loan agreement between Bahrain and Abu Dhabi Development Bank to finance construction of Bahrain embassy premises in Abu Dhabi.
The cabinet approved five proposals on developing Mina Salman interchange, paving streets in Horat Sanad, setting up a health unit with an ambulance for King Fahd Causeway and Bahrain International Airport, providing a consultant doctor primarily at health centres open round the clock in the five governorates and allowing residents of Hamad Town, who possess land plots and housing units, to build on their garages according to laws and regulations.