His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has stressed the need to maintain the efficiency and quality of all government services including electricity and water, issuing directives to continue upgrading the performance of government bodies in order to achieve optimum results.
Speaking as he chaired here a work meeting devoted to the follow up of government daily work, HRH Premier reiterated the government’s keen desire to continue all kind of support for needy families especially regarding the fees paid by them in return for the government services.
During the meeting, HRH Premier reviewed the report submitted by the Minister of State for Electricity and Water Affairs Dr. Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza on the unpaid electricity and water bills which amounted to about BD140 million, stressing that arrears should be paid, starting from the industrial, trade and tourism sectors and then well-off citizens.
HRH the Prime Minister instructed the concerned sides to adopt new mechanisms that enable the citizens to pay their bills easily and ensure that the state receives its due rights, calling for the need to cooperate with the Social Development Ministry in order to take humanitarian cases into consideration when collecting fees.
It is worth noting that government subsidies for electricity and water reach about BD250 million every year, including 60% of the real cost of electricity and 80% of that of water, and that a total of 15000 low-income Bahraini families enjoy additional government support.