The incidence of financial and administrative violations have dropped 25 per cent last year in Bahrain compared with 2013, according to the latest Financial Audit Bureau report.

The gross violations reported to the Public Prosecution for legal action dropped by 80 per cent, while cases requiring administrative measures went down by 17 per cent, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa stressed the government's drive to fight corruption and protect public money.

Chairing the weekly meeting, he hailed the tangible drop in irregularities.

His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier, attended the session and presented a report of the co-ordination committee in charge of following up on remarks and gross violations contained in the report.

The Premier hailed the efforts of the panel, chaired by the Crown Prince, in ensuring the follow-up and implementation of measures, said Cabinet Secretary Dr Yasser bin Essa Al Nasser.




Meanwhile, five ‘major’ cases of suspected corruption have been referred to the Interior Ministry's anti-corruption and economic and electronic security directorate by the Cabinet, it has emerged.

They will be referred to the Public Prosecution to commence criminal proceedings if sufficient evidence is uncovered.

No details about the five cases have so far been revealed, but they came to light in the Financial Audit Bureau report for 2013.

They were referred to the Interior Ministry after a final review of the report was presented to the Cabinet by its executive committee, chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier.

Seven other cases of alleged corruption are still being reviewed by the Cabinet's executive committee, which will determine whether criminal or administrative proceedings against offenders is required.

A total of 334 violations, out of the 346 documented in the bureau's report, have been classified as "administrative", meaning they will be dealt with internally and do not require criminal prosecution.

Total violations were down from 2012, when 462 offences were documented by the Financial Audit Bureau - 25 of which resulted in criminal prosecutions, while 404 were deemed administrative and another 33 required further review.

Information Affairs Minister and official government spokesman Isa Al Hammadi told a Press conference after the Cabinet's weekly meeting at Gudaibiya Palace yesterday that the number of violations decreased by more than a quarter in 2013.

"It is difficult to end violations entirely within a certain time frame because as work develops and changes occur, with it comes issues," he said. "Switzerland, which started issuing similar reports annually way before us, is still dealing with violations.

"But we must acknowledge that Bahrain has seen violations drop by more than a quarter from its previous report.

"Even those believed to constitute major corruption cases are just a fifth of what they were, from 25 (in 2012) to five (in 2013), and the directorate concerned in the Interior Ministry will now review them, with the possibility of having a maximum of seven others that the executive committee is still reviewing."

Al Hammadi said that while the number of violations was down in 2013, the fact that there were more than 300 administrative violations required attention.

"We have cited 334 violations in comparison to the 404 in 2012 and we are working to ensure they don't get repeated," he said.

Alleged offenders identified in the report, distributed by the bureau in January, were the Information Affairs Authority, the Health Ministry, the National Health Regulatory Authority, the Foreign Ministry, the Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry, Tamkeen and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, in addition to the now-dissolved Culture Ministry.

Specific reference was made to under-spending by government entities, with 17 ministries and government bodies spending less than half of their projects budget, worth around BD372 million.

Parliament has also prepared its own report on the alleged violations, which has not yet been discussed by MPs. - TradeArabia News Service