SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2019 04

HRH Premier congratulated HMS Montrose seizes 170kg by Speaker TDT | Manama

epresentatives Coun- Rcil Speaker Fawzia Zainal sent a cable of of ‘illegal drugs from dhow’ congratulations to His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa This brings the total of drugs seized by CMF warships in 2019 to over 2,000 kg of heroin bin Salman Al Khalifa on success of the medical TDT | Manama : “The Royal Navy checkups. Boarding Team worked closely She prayed to Allah wo warships, one from the with the Royal Marines Boarding the Almighty to protect Royal Navy and one from Team, who provided the security HRH the Premier and Tthe French Marine Na- of the vessel, so we could search bless him with abundant tionale, have made major drugs the vessel. These teams are made health and a long life to seizure from a dhow in the Ara- up of a range of the Ship‘s Compa- continue the march of bian Sea. ny with many and varied skill sets, development in HMS MONTROSE, a Type 23 frig- and they were successfully able under the leadership of ate, and FS JEAN BART, a Cassard to locate the narcotics on board.” His Majesty King Hamad class , worked together to One of the Rigid Hull Inflatable bin Isa Al Khalifa. intercept 94 kgs of heroin and 76 Boat drivers is Advanced Tactical Among those who kgs of crystal methamphetamine Coxswain Able Seaman, Seaman wished HRH the Premier with a local street value of over a Specialist Ben Davies: “Working over successful medical million US dollars. at night was particularly challeng- check-ups were Shura Narcotics smuggling in the re- ing. Once my training kicked in, Council Chairman Ali gion is linked to major criminal I was able to manoeuvre the sea Saleh Al Saleh, Electric- networks and terrorism. boats successfully alongside the ity and Water Affairs The suspicious dhow was ini- dhow to allow members of the Minister Wael bin Nasser tially located by FS JEAN BART’s boarding team to embark safe- Al Mubarak, Education helicopter and boarded by a team ly as well as recover them and Minister Dr Majid Al Nu- from the French ship who secured the drugs, back onto HMS MON- aimi and many envoys. the vessel and conducted an initial TROSE.” Many global leaders investigation. This brings the total of drugs have praised HRH the In associated support to CTF150, seized by CMF warships in 2019 Premier for his efforts to they collected information on her to over 2000 kg of heroin, just boost global peace. HRH recent activities and ensured the The drugs seized by CTF 150 team. over 130 kg of crystal metham- the Premier on Friday dhow was secured and safe. outcome of the operation: “This the suspicious dhow. We were phetamine and nearly 50,000kg received a letter from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines interdiction is testament to the ready to commence a successful of hashish. Locally, this would UN Secretary-General, personnel from HMS MONTROSE outstanding teamwork and collab- counter narcotics operation with equate to around over 46 million António Guterres. then took over the search of the orative co-operation within CMF This interdiction is the French Ship JEAN BART in US Dollars and is ahead of the total Guterres expressed vessel and the team located and that has been demonstrated in testament to the the afternoon; this demonstrates achieved in 2018 at this stage of appreciation to HRH the seized a large number of packages my area of operations. I am enor- outstanding teamwork the flexibility and professional- the year. Prime Minister for his containing the drugs. mously grateful to French Ship and collaborative ism of the Royal Navy and French By the end of the 2018, CMF role in promoting peace, The warships were operating JEAN BART for initially locating Navy and the very close interop- warships had seized narcotics progress and prosperity as part of the multinational task and securing the vessel in prepa- co-operation within erability with our coalition allies. worth over 75 million US Dollars. in the Kingdom, and at force, Combined Task Force (CTF) ration for handover to another co- CMF that has been “I am immensely proud of my HMS Montrose is the first Royal the international level 150. This is part of the 33 nation alition unit. HMS MONTROSE then demonstrated in my Ship’s Company who have all Naval ship to be forward deployed through his UN-adopt- coalition Combined Maritime responded in a tradition I would area of operations. played their part in tackling the to the Middle East and is support- ed International Day of CMF Forces ( ) and has responsi- expect from the Royal Navy. Her COMMODORE ED AHLGREN international drugs trade from the ed by personnel from the Royal Conscience initiative. bility for counter terrorism and Ship’s Company showed true sea and have prevented the land- Navy and other Services work- The UN Chief praised counter narcotics across a large professionalism and grit in the ing of these drugs in other coun- ing as part of the importance and goals area of the Arabian Sea and Indian manner in which they conducted The Commanding Officer of tries, perhaps even the streets of Maritime Component Command of the King Hamad Glob- Ocean. the boarding – collectively as a HMS MONTROSE, the UK. Seizures like these put a (UKMCC) and CMF. al Centre for Peaceful CTF 150 is a joint command UK-French endeavour, we have Ollie Hucker Royal Navy, said dent in the funding of wider illicit Since arriving in April 2019, she Co-existence in fostering shared between the Royal Navy now successfully stopped this par- he and his ship’s company have and illegal activity”. has undertaken a wide range of peace, love and freedom and French Marine Nationale and ticular illegal cargo reaching other been training hard for this type HMS MONTROSE has teams from operational tasking ensuring free- of religion. The UN Sec- is led by Commodore Ed Ahlgren regions of the world and proba- of mission: “We were conducting the Royal Navy and Royal Marines dom of navigation in the region, retary-General also wel- of the Royal Navy, who took over bly prevented well over a million a Replenishment at Sea with a US able to conduct boardings at short protection of merchant shipping comed HRH the Prime in August of this year. dollars of funding for those who Navy Tanker in the early morn- notice. The ship’s boarding officer as well as tasking in support of Minister’s invitation to He was delighted with the would wish to do us harm.” ing when I received the news of is Sub Lieutenant Will de la Mare CMF. him to visit the Kingdom.

Taqyeem Committee reviews service centre evaluation mechanism Manama Royal Highness Prince Salman Government’s 2019-2022 Action Trustees of the Bahrain Centre Al Qassab; Director of Quality bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Plan and the 2019 Government for Strategic, International and Assurance Accreditation Centre he Chief Executive of the Prince, Deputy Supreme Com- Forum. Energy Studies (Derasat), Dr at the University of Bahrain, Dr Information and eGov- mander, and First Deputy Prime The committee reviewed a Shaikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Mohammed Baqer; Abdulla Al Ternment Authority (iGA), Minister. list of 19 government service 19 Khalifa; Chief Executive of the Jowder and Fatima Barhoum, Mohammed Ali AlQaed, chaired Taqyeem further improves centres included in the 2019 government service Education and Training Qual- representing iGA; and Secretary the 10th Government Service government efficiency as well evaluation plan by analysing the centres included in the ity Authority, Dr Jawaher Al Ahmad Al Awadhi also attended Centre ‘Taqyeem’ Committee as the efficiency of civil servants data gathered through field vis- 2019 evaluation plan Madhaki; the Director Gener- the meeting. meeting at iGA’s headquarters by continuously evaluating the its and mystery shoppers, which were reviewed by the al of Organisation and Position The Taqyeem Committee is in Isa Town. level of service. demonstrated remarkable im- committee. Budget, Dr Jamal Abdulaziz Al responsible for tracking KPIs of Mr AlQaed said that the Moreover, Taqyeem enhanc- provements. Alawi; Director at Bahrain In- all of the Kingdom’s government launch of the second edition of es competition, creativity, and The committee was also stitute of Banking and Finance service centres to enhance their Taqyeem reflects the success innovation in order to further briefed on a campaign plan to (BIBF), Ahmed Abdul Hameed performance level in addition to of the programme, which is in government service delivery, in raise awareness of the central in the evaluation process. Abdul Ghani; General-Manag- updating the evaluation process to line with in the directives of His line with the objectives of the role citizens and residents play Chairman of the Board of er at Sila Gulf Company, Nada keep up with best global practices. Saudi urges UN for zero-tolerance justice policy New York sion of Saudi Arabia to the UN, rights of any person charged tem for peacekeeping missions during a committee discussion with an offence to be presumed and reiterates the importance audi Arabia has called on on the criminal accountability until proven guilty by relevant of promoting international the UN to review report- of UN officials. The Kingdom calls for action to develop the authorities, he added. co-operation and joint work Sing mechanisms to ensure Mr Al Aarjani said accounta- human rights system for peacekeeping missions He said that the Kingdom ap- among member states to en - the transparency of donors by bility of UN officials and experts preciated the important roles of sure the accountability of UN submitting reports on all of the on mission is vital for combat- and reiterates the importance of promoting the vast majority of UN person- officials. financial procedures of Sau - ting any offences they might international co-operation and joint work. nel, who spare no effort to serve “The Kingdom also finds it di-funded humanitarian pro- commit. MR AL AARJANI the world, and sometimes even crucial to provide UN staff with grams and projects. In this context, the Kingdom sacrifice their lives carrying out pre-deployment training on the This demand came in a urged the UN to maintain a ze- their humanitarian work. criminal laws applicable in the speech by Saad Abdullah Al ro-tolerance policy in address- Mr Al Aarjani conveyed the tify important rules to punish Mr Al Aarjani said: “The host country, to prevent com- Aarjani, first secretary and ing criminal justice and to sus- Kingdom’s approval of devel- crimes committed by UN staff. Kingdom calls for action to mitting criminal offences that member of the permanent mis- tain the rule of law principle. oping legislation that can iden- The Kingdom supports the develop the human rights sys- violate local laws.”