ALL government services will be provided online, in both English and Arabic, from January 1.
The Cabinet had, on Monday, approved a list of 1,294 services and tasked a team to ensure their availability online on the government portal www.bahrain.bh
“The government has been fast-tracking the digitalisation of services to keep pace with the times,” Electricity and Water Affairs Minister Wael Al Mubarak said yesterday.
“The number of documented e-services increased from 742 (57pc) in September to 1,294 (100pc) this week,” he said.
“However, only 885 of them are currently available in both languages.
“Work is underway and the remaining 409 services will also be available online, in both Arabic and English, by January 1.”
The details were revealed during a Press conference held at the Gudaibiya Palace.
Major services, including the issuance of visas, authorisation and marriage certificates, identity documents for newborns and post-construction services would also be re-engineered.
Mr Al Mubarak said government services will continue to be assessed and upgraded to ensure easier access for citizens and residents.
“Every proposal and complaint submitted is given priority and suitable action is taken,” he added.
Information and eGovernment Authority chief executive Mohammed Al Qaed said the government was working to achieve set targets under four initiatives.
“The first one relates to documenting and publishing all government services and procedures on the e-government portal, which has been successfully completed,” Mr Al Qaed said.
“Second, a service agreement has been set stipulating the maximum time to complete each government service. All agencies will have to fast-track procedures and commit to the deadline.
“A working group has been formed to follow up the implementation of the decision and monitor all services.”
Mr Al Qaed said request forms for major services have been unified, with the e-government portal listing steps to educate customers.
“The portal is also being revamped and will be available for the public shortly,” he added.
“The third initiative is the Secret Agent, which will see a well-qualified team assessing the e-services on a regular basis.
“Work is also underway to develop a mechanism for evaluating employees providing government services.
“The best service and the least popular ones will be studied as part of the fourth initiative.
“All complaints received through Tawasul will be taken into account in order to improve the facilities. Service Agreements will also be reviewed accordingly.
“To avoid having accounts of the elderly misused by family members or authorised individuals, we are working to introduce tighter security measures, which will be revealed soon.”
Industry, Commerce and Tourism Ministry assistant under-secretary for Commercial Registration (CRs) and Companies Nibras Talib said three electronic platforms – Sijilat, Benayat and Tawasul - were assessed between September 13 and December 13.
“The number of requests through the commercial registry system (Sijilat) reached 4,070 during this period – 99 per cent of which were completed within the time specified in the service agreement.
“A total of 893 requests were received for building permits of which 892 were answered within the time specified .
“While a five-day deadline has been set for issuance of construction permits, most of them were handed out in an average of 2.25 days.”
Mr Talib added that the number of suggestions, inquiries and complaints through Tawasul reached 34,964 between September and December, with 36 out of 47 government agencies showing 100pc commitment.
mohammed@gdn.com.bh
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