IN an unprecedented move, the Shura Council has transferred BD7 million from its surplus to the government to help cope with its finances.
Announcing this at the weekly session of the National Assembly’s upper chamber yesterday, Chairman Ali Saleh Al Saleh said the surplus was achieved following the cost-saving measures adopted since his appointment to the post in 2006.
The declaration came as the council debated its closing financial statement for 2022 which didn’t show any financial irregularities after being scrutinised by an external auditor and the National Audit Office (NAO).
However, the NAO noted some administrative lapses in employment and training that it wanted the Shura Council to set right.
Financial and economic affairs committee vice-chairman Redha Faraj revealed that the council had made a savings of BD76,993 from its annual budget of approximately BD9m.
The closing statement was unanimously approved by the members.
“We have contributed BD7m from our surplus last year to the government,” said Mr Al Saleh.
“Finance and National Economy Minister Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa was surprised with the transfer, inquiring about it since he wasn’t aware we were making the savings,” he added.
“The government needs it more than us to cope with the necessary finances, though we have kept aside enough from the surplus for emergencies.
“It is our joint cost-saving measures that has contributed to this establishment being a model for transparent financial integrity and notable surplus maintaining work at the highest level.”
Mr Al Saleh referred to numerous financial acknowledgements not just from Bahrain, but the GCC, the region and the world.
“The Shura Council is ISO 9001 certified and that certification is assessed annually since 2016 and we have to keep pace,” he said.
“Also, we won best management award from the Abu Dhabi Government just recently besides other accolades showing we are on the right track.
“Regarding the closing financial statement, we talked with NAO chief Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa on the observations related to administrative observations in the 2022-2023 audit report and we voiced our opinion; it didn’t constitute as violations with us getting a clear answer it was not violation.
“I am not scaring anyone from being integral and NAO were doing their job and in case of any wrongdoing I am putting my head before anyone for accountability.
“The administrative lapses happened because for four years no administrative auditor from NAO showed up here to pinpoint them to us until this year and our finances as stated by NAO since 2002 are flawless.”
However, he cleared things out.
“Regarding employment of Bahrainis without a Bachelor’s degree, this occurred before we took a decision willingly not to and again Shura rules don’t prevent it,” said Mr Al Saleh.
“Promoting long-serving employees without a Bachelor’s degree into senior posts comes from their experience, commitment and contribution following assessment and test, and they deserve it – basic job progression,” he explained.
“Also in the case of an IT employee becoming our training head without matching credentials, the man has significantly improved from training that not just employees benefited from, but also government officials and members of the public, while also revolutionising the administrative system and electronic shift that we see today.”
He added that several committees for job fairness, job integrity and employment initiated by himself were meeting.
“Observations that the mandate is monthly meetings, which is not met, can be easily responded to and that’s the committee meet whenever there are topics to discuss, and the evidence is in one month they met four times, but to avoid future observations we have removed the time clause.
“We are constantly improving to be on top of things and I get progress reports from secretary-general Kareema Al Abbasi that I personally read and highlight.
“Whether we have taken an oath or not, this is a responsibility that we are here to do perfectly and in all consciousness.”
Meanwhile, financial and economic affairs committee chairman Khalid Al Maskati said standards were being heightened on a regular basis to ensure more efficiency and productivity.
“The cost-saving measures are developing as we develop standards and the zero financial flaws acknowledgement shows that,” he said.
“Proper management always leads to flawless results and we are keen on maintaining that.
“We are also investing surplus in local banks and this is generating bigger revenues that are benefiting the establishment and the country in general.”
The call for bigger investments was made by member Talal Al Mannai, legislative and legal affairs committee chairman Dalal Al Zayed, Dr Ahmed Al Haddad and Abdulrahman Jamsheer.
mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
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