Hot debate on subsidy for tomato sauce

Manama : A debate erupted among MPs yesterday on including tomato sauce in the subsidised foodstuff basket.

The debate took place while the council discussed a law proposal submitted by Mohammed Milad MP to revise the subsidised products to citizens.

Milad’s proposal instructed to include tomato sauce in the subsidised foodstuff list, which included rice, flour, white and red meats, cooking oil and sugar.

In the discussion, Financial and Economic Affairs Committee Head Abdulrahman Buali demanded to exclude the sauce from the list.

This was rejected by Milad, who stressed that the subsidised foodstuff basket should include more items, to help citizens overcome the increasing prices of commodities.

“In Kuwait for instance, the subsidised foodstuff list is way longer than the one we have here. I haven’t included some key commodities such as salt in the list. But tomato sauce is essential to the Bahraini family. It’s used in all the main Bahraini dishes,” Milad stated.

He highlighted that his proposal comes to prevent the Executive Authority from cutting the subsidies of any of the commodities mentioned in the list, as it comes within a law that can’t be amended by the Government. “This is to cement the government subsidies to citizens,” he added.

Milad’s statements convinced the council, as the majority of MPs eventually voted for the proposal, despite the reservations several MPs had.