Manama: Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa has requested all government bodies to make use of the new e-complaints and suggestions system (Tawasul) to increase government performance and maintain transparency.

The system, introduced by the e-Government Authority (EGA) in close coordination with the Bahrain Centre for Excellence and other government entities, aims to allow the public to readily share their feedback on the quality of government services by submitting complaints about shortcomings and failures to address issues. The system will also act as a unified platform for interaction between all government bodies and the public.

Prince Salman, briefed on the latest developments in the new system, called on all government entities to make use of the system to facilitate improved interaction with the public.

So far, nine government bodies have so far subscribed to the system. They include the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, the Bahrain Central Informatics Organisation (CIO), the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), and the National Health Regulatory Authority.

In comments on the new system, Prince Salman said that the system should be included in the priorities set by government bodies and should serve to increase interaction with the public and improve government performance in line with international standards, Bahrain News Agency (BNA) reported.

The Crown Prince also called for complaints and suggestions submitted via the system to be addressed swiftly and used to generate mechanisms and policies to prevent similar problems from recurring in the future.

Prime Minister Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa had called for developing a unified electronic system that allows the public to share complaints and suggestions about all government departments.

Tawasul has been designed as an “intelligent system” that offers a tracking system to monitor the progress made on each complaint. It also has a response system that disseminates text messages and e-mails to users allowing them to track their complaint. Each complaint is allocated a reference number and stored in a database accessible to all ministers so that they may monitor the performance of their staff in addressing the complaints and suggestions submitted.

The system also allows decision makers within a government entity to analyse, improve and amend the process of addressing a complaint. The versatility of the system reflects the government’s keenness to involve the public and receive enquiries, BNA reported.

Users can benefit from the Tawasul system by having access to the system 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Under the plan offered to the public, the system that can be accessed via http://www.bahrain.bh sends the request directly to the relevant government body where it is analysed within a specific timeframe. Once a request has been addressed, the system has a response protocol to obtain feedback regarding the user’s satisfaction with the level of the service provided.