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Qatar: Barwa officials refuse to relent

DOHA: The drama unfolding at the state-backed Barwa Real State Company has taken an interesting turn with three key Qatari officials from the company's subsidiaries who earlier quit in protest of the sackings of 170 employees late last week, refusing to take back their resignations.

"There is no way we are going to take our resignations back," one of the officials told The Peninsula yesterday asking not to be named.

The officials are top executives of three important Barwa subsidiaries who put in their papers last week after the company's newly-appointed managing director (MD) sacked some 80 fellow Qatari employees and at least 90 non-Qatari staff members.

The trio resigned to protest the sackings. "We are not against the company laying off staff as part of revamp plans. We are against the sudden and ad hoc method adopted by the MD to retrench the staff," said the above official. "We should have been consulted before our subordinates were given the marching orders," he added. Asked what he would do if the board of directors of the company insisted that they take their resignations back, the official quipped: "We will see then."

"However, as it is, our resignations have not been accepted by the board," the official said. "But we are insisting that our resignations be accepted at any cost." The trio resigned after the boards of the 27 subsidiaries of Barwa were disbanded by the new MD, Dr Mohamed Asad Al Emadi, and their CEOs were asked to report to him and not to the Group's board.

Al Sharq, meanwhile, said citing sources that Al Emadi had not paid any heed to the orders issued by the newly-elected chairman of the company, Hitmi Ali Al Hitmi, who stayed the decision to sack the employees.

A source told the daily that it is because of the efforts of the CEOs of the 27 subsidiaries that the group's assets had soared to a staggering QR72bn over the past five years from a meagre QR2bn.

The daily said Al Emadi had also cancelled the scholarship the group provides to some Qatari students for studies abroad.

But Barwa , in a statement to Qatar News Agency denied the report and said it will continue to support the scholarship programme.

Barwa also issued a press statement yesterday saying that the chairman, Himti Ali Al Hitmi had met the MD to discuss longmedium and short term strategy of the company and the board is also slated to meet shortly.

Observers are, meanwhile, furious that Barwa has been allowed to take part in the ongoing Career Fair despite the fact that it has sacked some 80 of its Qatari employees and some 90 non-Qatari staff members.

"They are retrenching Qatariemployees and are at the same time at the Career Fair to employ some. This is shameful and hypocritical," said the observer.

According to him, the Labour Ministry should launch an investigation regarding the summary dismissals by Barwa .

"It has also breached the basic rights of the affected employees. So it's a human rights issue, too," the observer said. The sackings have also tarnished the image of Qatar in the outside world.

"While the Emir, H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, is making efforts and building the image of Qatar worldwide, Barwa with its anti-human activities is soiling Qatar's image," the observer said.

Moreover, there are more than 50,000 shareholders of the company which is a key listed entity and many of them are foreigners.

"So the company should have thought many times over before taking this self-disastrous step of sacking so many Qatari and foreign employees," the observer said. "This is going to adversely impact Qatar's position in the world as a prominent foreign investment destination," he added.

Meanwhile, heated debate on the issue rages on Qatari social networking sites with participants fuming over the sacking move.

© The Peninsula 2011