The Shoura Council has called on the Ministry of Justice to spread the culture of arbitration and further enlighten members of the community on the rights and services available under the judicial system through an organized media campaign.

The 38th ordinary session of the Council, which was presided over by its President Abdullah Al-Asheikh, took up the annual report of the Ministry of Justice for the year 1434-1435.

During the reading of the report, the House also called on the Justice Ministry to speed up completion of the alternative penalty system.

Chairman of the Committee of Islamic and Judiciary Affairs, Falih Al-Saghair, presented the recommendations of the committee based on the annual report to the general assembly.

Later, the Committee on Water, Agriculture and Environment urged the Ministry of Agriculture to help overcome difficulties faced by farmers to bring agricultural workers within the framework of the Ministry of Labor.

Council members heard the committee’s report on the regular report of the Ministry of Agriculture for the year 1434-1435 read out by Committee Chairman Dr. Ali Al-Tikhais. The committee requested the ministry to work out a sustainable agricultural development strategy for the Kingdom until 2030.

Commenting on the committee’s report, one member asked for the removal of obstacles facing agricultural investments abroad and suggested that a framework agreement be signed with targeted countries. Another member stressed the need to give guidance to farmers on the use of modern irrigation systems for palm trees, and production efficiency.

Another member proposed the use of treated sewage water for irrigation of farms in coordination with Ministry of Water and Electricity, while another member urged the ministry to introduce and support technologies that will rationalize water consumption.

Meanwhile, another member pointed out the absence of a marketing body for agricultural products.

Later, council members discussed a report presented by the Committee of Education and Scientific Research based on the annual report of the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) for the year 1434-1435 read by the committee’s chairman, Mishal Al-Sulami.

The committee asked the TVTC to organize workshops to serve the community and become a base for practical training for secondary industrial and technical college students.

The committee also urged the TVTC to adopt global educational programs based on professional certificates such as Cisco, Microsoft and Oracle and the assignment of the English Language Program (ELP) at TVTC to specialized centers on carrying out the required qualifying tests.

Commenting on the committee’s recommendations, a number of members suggested that TVTC be merged with the Ministry of Education due to the poor quality of its graduates and its failure to live up to labor market requirements.

Another member asked TVTC to sign partnership deals with public and private sector firms such as the Higher Commission for the Development of Riyadh to recruit TVTC graduates to the Riyadh Public Transport Project.

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