Muscat: The Office of Majlis Ash’shura held its ninth meeting of the third annual session (2021-2022) of the ninth term, under the chairmanship of Khalid bin Hilal al Maawali, on Tuesday.
The Office reviewed the results and recommendations of the discussion session with the minister of higher education, research and innovation before being submitted to the Council of Ministers. It also reviewed the technical office’s report on the studies and recommendations of Majlis Ash’shura during the sixth to eighth terms (2007-2019) and reviewed a report on the activities of the standing committees for January 2022. The Office approved the agenda of the eighth meeting of Majlis Ash’shura due to be held at the end of this month to discuss the Ministry of Economy’s statement.
The Office also reviewed a number of ministerial responses including a response provided by the minister of agricultural, fisheries and water resources to a question regarding the announcement issued to applicants for use of agricultural lands. It also reviewed the response provided by the minister of health to a request for briefing on activating medical examinations for expatriate workers before issuing or renewing residence cards. This is in addition to the response of the minister of information regarding the collection of due amounts of fees on the re-broadcasting of materials from external channels.
During the meeting, the Office approved a number of briefing requests submitted by the council members which included a briefing request submitted to the chairman of Oman Investment Authority (OIA) on the limits of privatization of state-owned companies, the Authority’s privatization plan for the next years and the percentage of privatization in public companies and the criteria that will be applied by the OIA in this regard.
The Office reviewed a question directed to the minister of social development regarding speeding up the amendments of the Social Development Law. The request included inquiries about the amendments and increasing the social security pension. The Office reviewed a question to the minister of health regarding the unavailability of the most important medicines in government hospitals and the cause of the shortage in medicine supplies for patients in the Sultanate of Oman.
The Office also reviewed the letter submitted to the inspector-general of police and customs, regarding the reduction of renewal fees for taxis taking into account their financial condition.
