New safety standards for constructing major highways will be introduced in Bahrain.

The Cabinet, chaired by His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, yesterday (June 8) directed the Works, Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Ministry to come up with new construction guidelines, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Minister Essam Khalaf was also instructed to open new roads after a thorough inspection was carried out.

"Most of the accidents are not caused by issues related to construction of roads and mostly happen because drivers disregard speed limits and do wrong practices," said Information Affairs Minister and official government spokesman Isa Al Hammadi.

"There are international road safety disciplines that the government has introduced, breaching them is causing chaotic scenes on roads.

"Even with that, and with the ministry already obliging contractors to follow internationally-practised standards, we believe more clear and better quality guidelines need to be introduced if we are to ensure more safety.

"Constructing roads whether highways or routes was never an issue, but the government wants to ensure it doesn't become one.

"No new road will be opened for vehicles until all inspections are carried out to ensure there are no defects and protecting people's lives is a priority to us, even if it is just a precaution."

He was speaking at a Press conference following yesterday's weekly Cabinet session at the Gudaibiya Palace. - TradeArabia News Service