His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa chaired the regular weekly Cabinet session, at the Gudaibiya Palace today.

HRH Premier gave directives to study the re-planning and development of some regions in the kingdom to ensure their easy access to basic services, facilitate dealing with any emergency case in them and link them to a network of various government services more effectively.
HRH the Prime Minister referred the matter to the High Urban Planning Committee, a statement by the Cabinet Secretary-General, Dr. Yasser bin Isa Al-Nasser, said.

The session strongly condemned the armed terrorist attack which had targeted a bus carrying Coptic Christians in Minya Province, Egypt, resulting in scores of dead or wounded.
The Cabinet reiterated the kingdom’s support to Egypt’s government and people and to all measures it deems necessary to combat terrorism, stressing that the Egyptian people is aware of the terrorists’ goals, and therefore its solid national unity will not be affected.

The session also denounced the terrorist attack that hit the city of Manchester, and left dozens of dead and injured, describing it as a horrific terrorist act.
The Cabinet reiterated Bahrain’s sympathy with the United Kingdom and support for the measures it takes to confront and fight terrorism.

HRH the Prime Minister gave instructions to allocate a specific percentage of the government’s purchases to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to support them, and requested the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism to submit a proposal in this regard in coordination with the Tender Board.

In a related context, HRH the Prime Minister directed all ministries to pay their financial obligations to institutions and companies according to schedule and to avoid exceeding their allocated budgets.

Responding to the citizens’ remarks on services, HRH the Prime Minister instructed the Housing Ministry to include the applications of the Manama citizens in the new housing units currently under construction.

Reviewing the memoranda on its agenda, the session approved both the Consolidated Final Account of the State for the fiscal year which ended on December 31, 2016, which had been audited by the National Audit Office (NAO), and a report on the implementation of the state budget for the same fiscal year. They will be referred to the parliament as stipulated by the Constitution and the General State Budget Law.

The session also approved a draft law on amending the Law on the Prevention and Prohibition of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism.

The bill on amending Article 3 of Decree-Law 4/2001, stipulating that collecting, giving or allocating any funds, property, proceeds or support by any means to an individual or groups engaged in terrorist activity shall be punishable by the law, was referred to the Legislature in accordance with the constitutional and legal procedures in force.

The Cabinet approved the reduction of the fee imposed on resuming a cancelled lawsuit m BD 50 to BD20. In this regard, it approved a draft-law on amending Edict 54/2016, in light of the memoranda submitted by the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs and Rationalising Expenditure, and the Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments.

On traffic, the session approved adjusting the speed limits on 29 highways, in line with HRH Premier’s directives to reconsider speed limits to meet safety requirements and reduce traffic contraventions, as highlighted in the memorandum presented by the Minister of Interior.

The Cabinet also approved the audited financial statements of the Future Generations Reserve Fund for the fiscal year ending on December 31, 2016, and referred them to the Council of Representatives according to the legal procedures in force.

Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments presented a memorandum on the developments undergone by the Ministry’s Directorate of Executions, in implementation of HRH Premier’s directives in this regard.
A technical infrastructure covering all the Justice Ministry’s directorates has been put in place at the Executions Directorate, which allows it to improve its administrative performance through the high-quality electronic and digital judicial services it delivers, the minister told the session.

Source: Fana News