The Cabinet also denounced all instigative calls to violate laws and regulations and exploitation of religious platforms to undermine the deep-rooted Bahraini social fabric and incite violence, stressing that freedom of expression and opinion, guaranteed by the Constitution, should be exercised in accordance with the law.
According to the Cabinet Secretary-General Dr. Yasser bin Isa Al Nasser, the session reviewed the progress of the implementation process of the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) at ministries and government departments, as outlined in the presentation of the Chairman of the Government Team in Charge of the BICI Recommendations Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak in this regard.
The Cabinet hailed the tangible progress made, as a result of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s directives, lauding the constructive cooperation and coordination of the National Commission in Charge of BICI Recommendations, led by Ali bin Saleh Al Saleh, with the government for the sake of accomplishing the mission through collaboration the Government Team.
On the kingdom’s economy, the Cabinet reviewed ways of revitalizing and boosting it, instructing the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee to cooperate with international expertise and submit the necessary recommendations for that.
The Cabinet also instructed a Committee involving representatives from the Ministries of Finance, Works and Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning to study the progress of urban projects and make sure that they are finalized in time so as to avert negative impact of baseless interpretations, in line with the government’s keenness to maintain vigour of the urbanization sector through removing all barriers hindering the execution of some projects.
The Cabinet also endorsed a plan on civil settlement of the issue of reparation of victims of last year’s incident, which is kind of out-of-court settlement under which direct compensations will be paid to the victims’ families who, in return, should accept not to seek judicial channels.
The plan is in line with HM the King’s directives to speed up the reparation process of the victims of last year’s incidents, the BICI’s recommendation in this regard and the government’s keen desire to accelerate the implement process of BICI recommendations and desire to compensate victims without delay.
The Cabinet also approved the mechanisms of the amicable settlement according to which a Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry’s Committee will receive requests from victims or their relatives, as outlined in the memo submitted to the Cabinet by the Justice Minister.
The Cabinet also approved BD8 million scheme to rehabilitate and employ university graduates.
Under the scheme, which will benefit about 2500 more graduates, the government will pay BD200 for companies in the first year and BD150 in the second for each graduate and will be in charge of all the expenses of graduates’ training and rehabilitation programmes.
The plan, which is complementary to the existing Rehabilitation and Employment of University Graduates, is launched by the government out of its resolve to keep unemployment rates at their lowest.
On municipal work, the Cabinet also discussed adding a new article to the Decree by Law (13) for 1977 with respect to the regulation of buildings, granting the municipality the authority to stop the construction of any unauthorized building.
The draft law, prepared by the Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry, was referred to the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs.
The Cabinet praised the record results achieved by the oil and gas sector in 2011, calling for the need to keep up development such a vital sector.
The Cabinet was also informed on the industrial licenses granted in 2011, reflecting the steady growth of the industrial sector despite the global economic challenges, as outlined in the memo submitted by the Industry and Commerce Minister who asserted that a total of 120 industrial projects had been licensed, earning the national economy about BD 243,5 million.
Proposals to re-study subsidizing the prices of oil and gas provided for public and private companies and address the problem of heavy vehicles in heritage areas in Muharraq were also discussed during the session.
A proposal to establish a special sports centre for people with mental disorders and another on confirming temporary Bahraini workers were also endorsed.
The Cabinet also approved the setting up of a Supreme Committee to take care of young inventors, select the best ones and pay their expenses in order to develop their talents.
The panel will be supervised by the Education Ministry, the Culture ministry, the Information Affairs Authority, the Human Rights and Social Development Ministry and the General Organisation for Youth and Sport.
The Cabinet was also informed on the Shura and Representatives Councils’ approval of draft laws on trade names, the establishment of a Supreme Council for Social Security, amendments to the first article of Decree (18) for 1975 and regulation of technical work.