Saleh heads Cabinet meeting

SANA’A, March 01 (Saba) – President Ali Abdullah Saleh chaired on Tuesday part of the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers that discussed the latest developments in the country and the efforts being exerted to resume dialogue and implement comprehensive reforms. The meeting also highlighted the initiatives President Saleh had offered to lift the country out of the current problems and dealt with economic issues, particularly projects for youth to benefit from their abilities through creating jobs for them. Furthermore, it raised the topic of starting dialogue with the young protesters through the panel Saleh has recently formed. The topic of reconciliation with the Joint Meeting Parties, the opposition coalition, to form a national unity government was discussed after Saleh stressed on Monday during his meeting with clerics the importance of reconciliation with the opposition. The Cabinet continued its meeting discussing the annual report of the Supreme Tenders Committee on its activities during 2010. The report highlighted the number of projects implemented, tenders approved and human capacity building programmes as well as the blacklist of contractors at the Ministry of Public Works and Roads. The Council praised transparency of the Tenders Committee, stressing the importance of sticking to the tenders law and urging the Ministry of Public Works and Roads to coordinate with the concerned bodies to prepare and issue the typical documents of general standards and the guide for public buildings, roads and sanitation. It urged the Ministry of Trade and Industry to coordinate with the concerned bodies to prepare and issue the special guidelines of registering and classifying importers and the bylaw of general standards. Moreover, the Council got acquainted with the mechanism proposed by the ministerial committee to implement the presidential orders to absorb 25 per cent of the college graduates registered at the Ministry of Civil Service and Insurance this year. It praised the mechanism and assigned the committee to prepare a draft bylaw to regulate the process of employing the youths under executive orders approved by the Council.FRSaba