The Cabinet has extended earnest congratulations to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier, the Bahraini people and the Arab and Muslim Nations on the advent of Eid Al-Fittr, wishing them many happy returns.
This came as Deputy Premier Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa chaired at the Gudaibiya Palace today the regular weekly cabinet meeting, the Secretary-General of Cabinet Dr. Yaser bin Essa Al-Nasser said.
In a statement following the session, Dr. Al-Nasser stated that the cabinet had discussed a number of memoranda.
The cabinet reviewed the remarks and the visions of the Committee for the Development of Education and Training, under the chairmanship of Deputy Premier Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa regarding the reports of the National Authority for Qualifications and Quality Assurance of Education and Training (QQA) concerning the results of the 16th review reports of the quality of the performance of education and training institutions.
The cabinet stressed that education should not be exploited for commercial reasons, under any names or forms, and called on the Ministry of Education to follow-up on private schools to ensure they carry out the necessary improvements.
It also called for the need to activate the joint Ministry of Education-QQA Committee in order to organise more meetings, coordinate efforts, examine the reasons behind the low grades and find the proper solutions to ensure that National Examinations achieve maximum benefits.
It also requested the Ministry of Education and QQA to agree on the to agree on the mechanisms of accreditation.
The cabinet approved 51 review reports and the results of the national examinations issued by QQA.
The cabinet was briefed, upon request from the Deputy Premier Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak, by the Interior Minister on the current situation of traffic in the kingdom and the role of the new Traffic Law in enhancing road safety and reducing accidents.
In this regard, the cabinet agreed to use more CCTV cameras in the main roads to monitor traffic violations, expedite the establishment of a Traffic Control Centre that controls and monitors the kingdom’s main roads, assigns some traffic services from the General Directorate of Traffic to the private sector, speed up the issuance of the executive bill of the Traffic Law and address the problem of old cars which often stop in roads and impede the traffic flow.
The cabinet commended the tremendous efforts exerted by the Ministry of Interior to reduce the number of road accidents which led to the remarkable decrease of their number in this year compared to the same period in 2013.
The cabinet reviewed the infrastructure projects implemented so far, including the building of four schools in Malkiya, Hunainiya, Busaiteen and Isa Town, the launch of the first phase of the Muharraq Ring Road, revamp of the Alba-Nuwaidrat Interchange, pavement of roads in many areas such as Busaiteen and Tubli and the beginning of the Juffair Ring Road.
Sanitary projects, including the Muharraq Sewage Treatment Plant, opened recently under the patronage of HRH Premier, was also spotlighted.
In a related context, the Cabinet discussed a memorandum presented by the Minister of Works on the Ministry of Works’ tenders that had been awarded or put forward during the second quarter of 2014.
A total of 27 tenders, costing BHD 57,783, 298 were awarded during the second quarter of 2014, while 35 projects costing BHD 91,144,820 were put out to tender in the in the same period, the cabinet learnt.
The cabinet also reviewed a memo presented by the Minister of State for Electricity and Water Affairs on efforts to provide energy the country, and praised the efforts made in this regard.
It called for the need to carry on implementing the government’s plans and projects to develop the electricity and water services in order to meet the aspiration of the government and the citizens’ expectations, especially regarding the Call Centres, and spread of Emergency Centres across the kingdom to address electricity and water problems timely.
The cabinet praised the efforts of the Electricity and Water Authority in reducing the number and duration of electricity cuts.
The cabinet referred to the Representatives Council a draft law on amending some provisions of law (46) of 2006 on the Identity Card and a memo including the government’s opinion on the law, proposed by the Parliament
The Cabinet endorsed the kingdom’s hosting of the workshop to be organised by the Arab Human Rights Committee (the Charter Committee), in cooperation with the Ministry of Human Rights Affairs, in September, 2015, Secretary-General of Cabinet Dr. Yaser bin Essa Al-Nasser also said.