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Barwa faces ire over mass dismissals

DOHA: The multi-billion dollar state-backed real estate giant, Barwa Real Estate Company , which has massive projects on-going and huge investments at home and abroad, is in the throes of a major controversy.

In a dramatic move, the company's newly-appointed managing director (MD) on Wednesday gave marching orders reportedly to as many as 170 employees of the company. That, however, could not be independently verified.

But the newly-installed board vetoed the decision of the MD in an apparent bid to avert a major crisis. Appointed on Tuesday after the election to the company's board, the managing director, Dr Mohamed Asad Al Emadi, gave marching orders to 170 employees, some 80 of them fellow citizens, the very next morning, according to some sources.

The sackings were said to be part of Al Emadi's plans to restructure the company, which is listed on the Qatari bourse. But the move came as a shocker for senior members of the company's management as well as the staff. Although his decision has been stayed by the company's board, many senior members of the management are believably still insisting on quitting in protest.

Company employees are in a belligerent mood and are referring to the day of the mass sackings as 'Black Wednesday'. To avert the crisis the board has stayed several other controversial decisions taken by Al Emadi.

According to information available, in less than 24 hours of his appointment to the hot seat, he ordered -- aside from sacking 170 staff members -- disbanding of the boards of directors of the 27 high-profile subsidiaries of the Group and asked their CEOs to directly report to him instead of the board.

Barwa Bank is one of the key subsidiaries of the group and is considered a major player in the banking sector. It is learnt that the employees concerned refused to accept when the dismissal letters were handed to them. The administration subsequently e-mailed the letters.

Al Emadi was elected member of the board (as executive director) in Tuesday's election but his appointment as MD was to be discussed at a meeting of the board which was slated to be held later. How he became managing director, then, is a mystery which remains unresolved, sources wonder.

They say that the decision of the MD ordering mass sackings indicate there were inherent problems in the company. "He wouldn't have taken such a decision if there were no problems in the company, particularly considering that Barwa is a key listed entity and has hundreds of thousands of shareholders that include foreigners," said a source.

Or else, the new MD has no or little experience of managing large entities and so was exposed the moment he was put in the saddle of a multi-billion dollar Group which has wide business interests and relations not only in Qatar but overseas as well, said another source.

The post of MD at Barwa seems to be jinxed as Al Emadi's predeccessor, Yusuf Al Khater, who was Group CEO, couldn't even complete a year, claim observers.

The drama unfolding at the company has left the company's shareholders shocked as many fear the stocks may nosedive.

The news of the sackings has, meanwhile, led to a heated debate on Qatari social networking sites. Some commentators expressed shock and disappointment and said the dismissal of about 12 percent of Barwa employees, majority of them nationals, did not bode well.

According to a commentator, Barwa has in all 600 employees and some 70 of them have been sacked. The company's Qatari staff consists of some highly qualified and experienced professionals, wrote another commentator.

"How did the new MD take such a crucial decision without taking the board in confidence," wondered yet another commentator. The move, he said, clearly reflected a tug of war between the MD and the board. The peninsula

There were others who said they believed that because of such problems in the company its projects were always delayed.

Al Emadi's decision to disband the boards of the 27 subsidiaries also came in for flak from some commentators who questioned his move to place their CEOs directly under him, ignoring the board.

However, not everyone commenting on the sites was against the MD. Some even described the mass sackings as a positive step aimed at trimming the 'unwanted' staff.

"As shareholders we need to be happy," wrote still another commentator, adding that there were more 'managers' at Barwa than middle and lower-rung employees who did the hard work.

There were others who, agreeing with such viewpoint, said they heard that Barwa employees drew huge salaries without deserving such packages. There were many who argued that Barwa should actually be a profitable company for the state since it has been given prime and expansive land free of cost by the government.

© The Peninsula 2011