Cabinet condemns terror attacks in Saudi, Egypt

Manama : His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa extended deepest thanks and appreciation to the Representatives and Shura councils for their fruitful cooperation with the government in preparing the General State Budget 2017-2018.

He also praised the consensus reached by the Executive and the Legislature on the principles and strategic priorities related to the budget.

This came as HRH the Prime Minister chaired the regular weekly cabinet session at the Gudaibiya Palace yesterday.

The Cabinet strongly condemned and denounced the terror attack which targeted an on-duty security patrol in the Saudi Qatif Province, reiterating Bahrain’s full-fledged support to sisterly Saudi Arabia and backing of all measures it deems necessary to fight terrorism and safeguard its security and stability.

It also reaffirmed the Kingdom’s principled stance in rejection of all forms and manifestations of terrorism, a post-session statement by the Cabinet Secretary-General, Dr Yasser bin Isa Al-Nasser said.

The terrorist attack which targeted a security checkpoint in North Sinai, Egypt, was also strongly condemned by the session which expressed Bahrain’s solidarity with brotherly Egypt and its support for its measures aimed at maintaining its security and stability.

After that, HRH the Prime Minister was informed about the progress of the implementation of his directives to service ministries to meet the needs of Duraz, A’ali, Muharraq and Hamad Town regarding housing and municipal services, as well as public facilities, roads and sanitation.

The Prime Minister took note, through reports submitted by the Minister of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning and the Minister of Housing, of the technical steps taken so far to commence the implementation of the required executive programmes.

More Parking lots 

HRH the Prime Minister gave directives to create more car parking lots in old neighbourhoods, including those in Muharraq.

Instructions were also given to acquire five sites in Galali to be used as public parking lots and requested the Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister to issue necessary acquisition edicts.

Beach cleanliness

HRH Premier directed to pay more attention to the cleanliness of beaches and harbours and ensure they are waste-free. 

The Cabinet gave instruction to remove waste, if any, from there, including the area surrounding the Bandar Al-Dar Port. Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning has been directed to take necessary measures to ensure that the contracts of the cleaning companies are still valid.

Labour camps 

Referring to labour camps, HRH the Prime Minister stressed the need to ensure that health, security and safety requirements are met in the collective residence of workers. The Cabinet tasked the relevant authorities to review the contracts of the workers’ accommodation and continue working on the bachelors’ residence.

Shabu narcotic

The Cabinet approved a proposal to consider shabu as a narcotic rather than as psychotropic substances. 

Decision has also been taken to move it to the second group in the table of narcotic substances referred to in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law 15/2007. 

The move is in line with keenness to tighten the penalties on the use and importation of narcotics. 

The competent authorities have been requested to take the necessary procedures in this regard.

Other decisions 

The session agreed that youth aged between 15 and 29 are the category targeted by the Youth and Sports Affairs Ministry through its programmes, activities and services.

The session endorsed the Kingdom’s hosting of the first meeting to draft an Arab strategy for the use of cloud computing in education, to be organised by the Arab Organisation for Education, Science and Culture (ALECSO). 

The session referred three air service agreements signed between Bahrain and Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Brazil to the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs.