RIYADH — The Council of Ministers on Monday approved a National Center for Evaluating the Performance of Public Agencies. The weekly session of the Cabinet, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman at Al-Yamama palace here, strongly condemned the heinous terror attack that happened in the vicinity of a mosque in Al-Kawther neighborhood in the city of Sihat, Qatif in the Eastern Province. The Cabinet conveyed its condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families and wished a speedy recovery to those injured, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Minister of Culture and Information Adel Al-Turaifi said the Cabinet decided to establish a national center after examining the recommendation of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs (CEDA) with regard to monitoring the performance of government agencies. The Cabinet endorsed the abolition of the Center of Performance Evaluation of Government Agencies, which was created as per a Cabinet decision six years ago, and to transfer its employees, properties and documents to the Institute of Public Administration. According to the Cabinet decision, the new national center will have independent administrative and financial powers, and it will be under the King in organizational matters. The center will have a board of directors, headed by chairman of CEDA, and its members are minister of economy and planning, minister of civil service, Minister of State and Member of the Cabinet Musaed Bin Muhammad Al-Aiban, and Minister of State and Member of the Cabinet Muhammad Bin Abdul Malik Al-Asheikh. The board will appoint a director general for the center. Al-Turaifi said the Cabinet reviewed reports on various regional and local issues on the advent of the new Hijri year that shed light to conflicts and seditions taking place in many Muslim countries and affecting the Islamic Ummah. In this backdrop, the Cabinet called for joint Islamic action and coordination of sincere efforts to defend the interests of the Islamic Ummah and for ending the crises, particularly bloody clashes and conflicts facing a number of Arab countries and Muslim minorities across the world. The Council of Ministers also renewed the Kingdom's condemnation of the recent escalation of Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people, including the brutal crimes committed by settlers against Palestinians under the guard of occupation forces, as well as the continuing Israeli violations at Al-Aqsa Mosque. It called on the international community to exert sincere efforts to provide protection for the Palestinian people and stop these crimes and attacks against them. Al-Turaifi said the Cabinet ordered referring the proposal to impose tax on unused land to the Shoura Council and to complete the studies within 30 days. The proposal was prepared under the supervision of CEDA in its bid to bring down the cost of land for building housing units for the low and limited income people. The Council approved the general rules for real estate financing and formed a ministerial level committee to frame the executive plans in this regard. It also endorsed formation of a permanent committee at the headquarters of the General Authority of Civil Aviation to handle imminent dangers that may happen to civilian aircraft in conflict zones.
