Crown Prince chairs Cabinet meeting; real estate development projects and telecommunication services discussed
His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister today chaired this week’s cabinet meeting at Gudaibiya Palace, during which a range of important issues were discussed, including means to swiftly restart stalled projects and to further develop Bahrain’s telecommunication services.
During the meeting, the cabinet extended its best wishes to His Majesty King Hamad, the people of Bahrain and all Arab and Islamic states on the occasion of the upcoming Islamic New Year.
The Cabinet went on to praise the electoral commissions for maintaining a swift and easy process for candidates to register to contest in the upcoming municipal and parliamentary elections across all electoral districts.
Moving on to the issue of stalled real estate development projects in Bahrain, the Cabinet stressed the importance of developing fair and objective solutions that can help restart stalled projects whilst protecting the interests of both large and small investors. The cabinet also looked at ways to prevent such issues in the real estate sector from recurring in the future.
The Cabinet then commended the efforts and organisation of “Invest in Bahrain”, a forum and exhibition held under the patronage of His Royal Highness the Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, which promotes various initiatives and projects aimed at attracting foreign investments into the Kingdom to further improve the living standards for allBahrainis. “Invest in Bahrain” was inaugurated on behalf of HRH the Prime Minister, by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, the Deputy Prime Minister.
A number of decisions were made during the weekly cabinet meeting, including:
1- The Cabinet approved the draft law on the settlement of distressed or stalled real estate development projects, which aims to fully address the issue while taking the necessary precautions to protect the interests of investors, both large and small.
2- The Cabinet discussed the draft resolution regarding regulations and permissions related to state-owned land and businesses. Key aspects of the draft resolution include the regulation of the current application and investment procedures, procedures to place land up for investment and ways to award contracts and procedures to deal with complaints. The draft resolution also ensures that the principles of integrity, transparency and competition are firmly part of all such regulations.
3- The Cabinet reviewed the memorandum on the development of telecommunication services in the Kingdom, submitted by the Minister of State for Communication. The memorandum notes that the remarkable progress of Bahrain’s telecommunications sector has placed it in a prominent status in the region and worldwide.
4- His Royal Highness the Crown Prince referred the draft law on issuing the Personal Data Protection Act to the Executive Committee for further study.
5- The Cabinet requested the Civil Services Council to re-examine the contents of the memorandum submitted by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Urban Planning, specifically the remuneration of the Complaints Committee who handles land expropriated for the public benefit.
6- The Cabinet approved to refer two draft laws, which were both drawn up following proposals made by the Representatives Council. The first draft law involves amending Article (6) of Law No. 19 of 2006 on the organization of the Labor Market, and the second focuses on amending Article (5) of Law no. (57) of 2006 on the establishment of a work fund. The amendments are designed to allow the representation of Bahraini workers in both the Labour Market Regulatory Authority and the Labour Fund, in view of the recent amendment to the Trade Unions Act promulgated by Legislative Decree No. 23 of 2002
7- The Cabinet referred to the draft law, as amended by the Representatives Council, which concerns an amendment to Article 127 of Legislative Decree No. 54 of 2002 on the Rules of Procedure of the Representatives Council. The cabinet also submitted a memorandum of the government’s opinion on the draft law.
