JEDDAH: The Ministerial Committee for Administrative Organization has completed the restructuring of five ministries, said Abdul Rahman Al-Shaqawi, head of the preparatory panel under the committee.
“The committee is currently conducting studies on how to restructure the remaining ministries and government institutions,” said Al-Shaqawi, who is director of the Institute of Public Administration in Riyadh.
He said the committee would continue its work to modernize ministries, public bodies and institutions, and further improve their performance in tune with modern developments.
“Ours is a continuous work and it does not stop at a specific point,” he told Al-Riyadh Arabic daily.
The committee also works to improve the performance of monitoring agencies that supervise the activities of ministries and government departments. “It also reviews the workload of each ministry and government department, and develops financial efficiency of all public institutions,” he added.
However, Al-Shaqawi did not disclose what kind of studies his panel was currently conducting with regard to the restructuring of ministries and public institutions. “Our main mission is to reorganize and restructure government departments,” he said, adding that it also works to cut down public expenditures.
Privatization of state-run organizations such as Saudi Arabian Airlines, Saline Water Conversion Corporation, and the General Organization for Grain Silos and Flourmills is another important mission of the committee, which is headed by Crown Prince Sultan.
Other activities of the committee include the development of systems for employees and commercial management of public institutions. It also deals with the application of computer systems and administrative technologies. “We also try to avoid duplication of work in the ministries and government departments,” he said.
Al-Shaqawi highlighted the committee’s achievements in the past years. It established a new ministry for water and electricity; a new monitoring authority like Saudi Food and Drugs Authority; abrogated the Ministry of Public Works and Housing and merged its activities with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs; separated electricity from the Ministry of Industry and formed a new ministry for commerce and industry; separated economy from the Ministry of Finance and set up a new ministry for economy and planning.
There were also calls for the merger of the education and higher education ministries and the establishment of a ministry for tourism and another for science and technology.
Many oppose the merger of the two education ministries, saying it would not bring about any change and would make things more complicated.
