Manama, Aug. 31 (BNA) His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa chaired at Gudaibiya Palace today the regular weekly Cabinet meeting.

The Cabinet praised the successful visit of HM the King to France and hailed the hospitality HM received there, the Cabinet Secretary General Dr. Yasser bin Isa Al Nasser said in a statement after the meeting.

The visit emphasised the perpetual growth of historical relations between Bahrain and France.

The Cabinet also praised the speech of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud and the admonitions it contained on terrorism, underlining the necessity to combat it by the required force, reason, and speed.

The Cabinet hailed the ceasefire agreement between the Palestinians and Israelis to stop the war in Gaza and praised the efforts of Egypt as well as regional and international ones to spare the blood of the Palestinian people and stop bloodshed.

The Cabinet discussed the memorandum presented by the Minister of Interior on the actions taken to follow up on issues related to the observations of the National Audit Court (NAC) on criminal suspicion. The memorandum, giving statistical report on 20 detailed cases, said that seven cases were under the investigation of the General Directorate of Anti-Corruption and Economic and Electronic Security at the Ministry of Interior and that three cases were under investigation at the Public Prosecution. One case was pending before the court and nine cases were saved at the Public Prosecution. The Cabinet decided to coordinate with the NAC in regards to future reports.

The Cabinet also discussed the memorandum presented by the Minister of Interior on the draft law on amending some provisions of the Public Security Forces issued by Decree Law 3/1982 that aims to close the legislative gap related to the collection of fees for some services and the issuance of certificates.

The Cabinet decided to refer the memorandum to the concerned ministerial committee for further review.

The Cabinet approved the memorandum presented by the Minister of the Interior on the actions taken to adopt the identity card issued by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Central Informatics Organisation (CIO) has been assigned to handle the issue and take the necessary steps that are related to preparing programmes and the required regulations while coordinating with the governmental and non-governmental authorities to deal with the Gulf identity cards.

The Cabinet approved the memorandum presented by the Minister of Labour on subsidizing the salaries of Bahraini employees working in the sector of hospitality.

The project, which was approved by hotel and restaurant owners, aims to increase the salaries of Bahrainis working in hospitality to a minimum of BD 300. According to the project, the Supreme Council for Vocational Training is to bear the cost of salary subsidy and the cost of vocational training for 24 months. The sector will bear the costs of the salary subsidy automatically and uninterruptedly.

The Cabinet approved the memorandum presented by the Minister of State for Defence Affairs, Deputy Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs, on the draft-decree amending certain provisions of the decree-law 5 /2002 approving the accession to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

The Cabinet discussed and approved the memorandum presented by the Minister of State for Defence Affairs, Deputy Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs, on the draft-decision on the executive regulations of the law-decree 21 /2013 on raising funds for general purposes.

The Cabinet discussed the memorandum presented by the Minister of State for Defence Affairs, Deputy Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs, on a draft law on public cleanliness.

The draft law aims to establish an integrated legislative system on cleanliness throughout Bahrain, defining duties and responsibilities and sets penalties.

The Cabinet approved the draft law in preparation for its submission to the legislative authority.

A O Q

BNA 1557 GMT 2014/08/31