The Council of Ministers yesterday approved the railway transport law that would bring about dramatic progress in the Kingdom's railways and speed up implementation of its massive railway expansion projects.
The new law empowers the Railway Authority to issue licenses and prepare tenders for the implementation and maintenance of railways and its facilities and services and complete necessary procedures.
The authority will also supervise the implementation of railway projects and work for the development of railway facilities. It will also select and classify railway services and set the conditions for giving licenses.
Transport Minister Jabara Al-Seraisry thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for approving the new law to promote railways in the country. "We need a good railway system to meet the increasing demand of our fast growing population," he said.
Al-Seraisry spoke about the Kingdom's massive railway expansion plan that includes a high-speed rail link between Makkah and Madinah via Jeddah, the North-South Railway and the land bridge project linking the Kingdom's east with its west.
"There will another railway for transporting passengers and goods and it will pass by four regions," the minister said, adding that it would be linked with the Riyadh-Dammam Railway.
He also referred to the GCC railway connecting the Gulf Cooperation Council states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
"The new railways will facilitate the transport of passengers and goods and strengthen the Kingdom's economic competitiveness," he pointed out.
Al-Seraisry said the ministry would carry out the new railway projects with responsibility, maintaining high quality and the projects would be completed as per schedule. "We are ready to provide modern transport facilities to citizens across the country keeping with King Abdullah's expectations," he added.
Meanwhile, Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja said the Cabinet discussed the situation in both Yemen and Syria and called upon the political powers in Yemen to support the newly elected President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in order to reinforce peace and stability in the country.
The Cabinet expressed its deep sorrow over the dangerous escalation of violence unleashed by the Syrian regime in many Syrian cities and villages, rejecting the UN and Arab League peace plan. It urged the international community to exert all possible efforts to protect Syrian civilians and find a wholesome solution to contain the worsening situation in Syria.
The Cabinet praised the king's decision to increase the capital of Saudi Industrial Development Fund from SR20 billion to SR40 billion and said it would boost the country's industrial sector, create more jobs for young Saudis and strengthen the national economy.
The Cabinet appreciated SABIC's endeavors to build a high-level industrial base for petrochemicals in different parts of the world. Sinopec SABIC Tianjin Petrochemical Company recently laid the foundation for a polycarbonate complex with 260,000 metric tons per annum capacity in the Chinese city of Tianjin Binhai.
Khoja said the Cabinet approved a new arbitration law that would replace the old law enacted 30 years ago. The new law will be applied to resolve international trade disputes, if two sides agree to follow it. But it will not be applied to personal disputes as well as to resolve issues that cannot be reconciled.
The Cabinet appointed Shafi bin Salim Al-Shafi as head of the 46th brigade of the National Guard; Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman Al-Shenaifi senior electrical engineer at the Interior Ministry; Abdul Mohsen bin Fahd Al-Shamikh administrative consultant; Ali bin Salim Al-Murshid director general of financial affairs at the Defense Ministry; and Abdul Rahman bin Ibrahim Al-Rassi minister plenipotentiary at the Foreign Ministry.
© Arab News 2012
