The housing sector in Bahrain will receive a fresh boost with new directives issued by His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa as he chaired at Gudaibiya Palace the Cabinet regular weekly meeting.
HRH the Prime Minister directed the Housing Ministry to work out more efficient schemes to reduce the waiting lists and adopt initiatives to speed up housing projects.
He also instructed to complete paving roads in some southern regions and light up streets in some northern villages underlining the need to spare no efforts in optimizing services and completing the government’s development projects in due time.
The Cabinet extended congratulations to Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on the royal trust bestowed on him by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in appointing him as Saudi Crown Prince, Deputy Premier and Interior Minister, succeeding the late Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
The ministerial council wished Prince Nayef every success in achieving the aspirations of the Saudi people under the wise leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
The council extended condolences to Turkey on the victims of the devastating earthquake which struck parts of the country reiterating solidarity with Turkey in its painful plight.
The Cabinet decided to provide Turkey with in-kind humanitarian aids and tasked Bahrain Humanitarian Aids Committee to coordinate with the Royal Charity Organization to send these aid consignments to specialized authorities in Turkey.
To further boost the trade momentum in the kingdom and due to the importance of land transportation in this regard, the Cabinet urged to remove all obstacles hampering trucks movement at customs exits and tasked the Interior Ministry to coordinate with specialized parties in this regard.
HRH the Prime Minister thanked the Interior Minister and all security bodies for their competence and swift action to arrest suspects involved in recent criminal acts that are in breach of the climate of freedom in Bahrain as well as the values and traditions of the peaceful Bahraini people.
HRH the Premier emphasized the importance of continuous security follow-up and social partnership to boost the kingdom’s security and stability.
The Cabinet asserted the government’s efforts, spearheaded by HRH the Premier, to further promote the investment climate in Bahrain and streamline procedures.
The government is also going ahead with devoting all its potentials to boosting the urban development boom due to its positive impact on the national economy, the council heard.
The Cabinet hailed Bahrain’s rating second at the Arab level and seventh internationally in terms of streamlined issuance of investment projects licences, according to a report by the World Bank for 2012.
The ministerial council discussed two draft laws on regulating and developing the real estate sector and decided to refer them to the ministerial committee for legal affairs for further study.
The Cabinet decided to set up a high committee for the government’s internal auditing which will present its reports to the ministerial committee for financial and economic affairs and will be in charge of working out appropriate measures to ensure cooperation of ministries and government establishments with internal auditors.
The council instructed ministries and government bodies to carry out the recommendations of the government internal audit body or the National Financial and Administrative Audit Court and take the necessary measures to avert their remarks in the future.
The Cabinet approved transfer of affiliation of the Health Sciences College from the Health Ministry to the University of Bahrain in light of the recommendations forwarded by the National Education and Training Development Committee and a memorandum by the Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the afore-mentioned committee in this regard.
The ministerial council approved six reports by the Quality Assurance Authority for Education and Training (QAAET) on higher education establishments’ performance and ten reports on vocational training establishments through a memorandum forwarded in this regard by the Deputy Premier and QAAET board of directors Chairman.
In light of a memorandum by the Human Rights and Social Development Minister and Acting Health Minister, the Cabinet approved authorizing Isa Town Health Centre, in the Central Governorate, to work round the clock to enable citizens to have access to health services at any time. It tasked the Health Ministry to take the necessary measures for that.
The Cabinet lauded what has been achieved in terms of improving job vacancies, salaries and training opportunities as well as the government’s efforts to keep unemployment rates low despite regional and international economic challenges.
A report by the Labour Minister has revealed an improvement in the average monthly salaries of employed graduates and under-graduates as well as an increase in the number of training opportunities, trainees and eligible people for the unemployment allowance.
The report has also shown that the unemployment rate was kept as low as 4% in the third quarter of 2011, out of which 58% are female and 42% male.