The Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs & Urban Planning, represented by the Works Affairs, has earned the 'Best Practice in Community Participation's Award' for the ninth time in a row. The award is part of the 2017 eGovernment Excellence Award, which is organized by the eGovernment under the patronage of HH Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Information Technology & Telecommunications Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa.
The Award was received by HE the Minister of Works, Municipalities Affairs & Urban Planning Eng. Essam bin Abdulla Khalaf; commending the effort of the Supreme Committee for Information Technology & Telecommunications, chaired by HH the Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa.
The Minister stressed the Ministry's keenness in digital communication and keeping up with the modern media. He added that the award reflects the Ministry of Works' success in fields related to information technology and telecommunications, which aims to serve citizens and residents. The Minister extended thanks to the Ministry's Communications Directorate for this distinguished achievement.
The Minister also added that the award on best practice in community participation indicates the Ministry's excellence in digital and interactive media, which requires bilateral and direct communication with customers and the audience and diversity in modern social media channels. Today, modern technology has made communication much easier. The Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs & Urban Planning, in line with directives from HRH the Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, strives to facilitate and expedite all services provided to people both timely and accurately.
The Minister Khalaf explained that the Ministry is always keen to make use of digital media to accommodate citizens' needs and therefore realize their vision and mission that primarily seeks to provide high quality infrastructure services, which also complements the objectives of Bahrain's Economic Vision 2030.
Communications Director Fahad Buallay stated that the Ministry winning the award only emphasizes the Ministry's ongoing initiatives and underlines its excellence in bilateral communication with citizens, as they respond to enquiries and complaints interactively and in a timely manner. Also, citizens are always kept informed about every progress in their applications. 82% of the messages conveyed to the Ministry via the Twitter are interactive messages, which indicates dynamism and flexibility in dealing with the audience and handling their requests. Also, there is a rise in the number of followers and users of the modern means of communication, which puts traditional methods of communication such as personal attendance in a backward rank. Electronic means have now preceded when it comes to communicating with people.
