Shoura Council approved a proposal to reduce fees of foreign recruitment and residency in its session on Sunday. The members agreed on slashing recruitment fee to SR500 and residency (or Iqama) fee to SR200. The proposal will be referred to the Council's financial committee before the Council finally approves it. Some members called for unifying all fees of services at SR500. They proposed that citizens with special needs or of low-income listed for the Social Security benefits should be exempted. The Council also approved a modification on Article 66 of the Drug Combat Law to allow police privates to participate in criminal interrogation and write reports on drugs-related crimes, a task that is still limited to officers. The Council also approved the National Plan to Respond to Radiological and Nuclear Emergencies and called on King Abdul Aziz City for Science to cooperate with relevant bodies and play an effective role in carrying out the plan's requirements in four months. Shoura member Abdullah Abu Malha objected transferring the legal authority over school medical services from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Health, arguing that the Ministry of Health is going through a period of failure and may not be capable of bearing such a burden. Dr. Abdullah Dahlan, a Shoura member, called for paying more attention to rural areas that are apparently in need of more development - especially under the economic boom the Kingdom is witnessing. - Okaz __
