KUWAIT: Besides the regular problems in business with customers and products, small businesses owners are facing obstacles with the bureaucracy in Ministries and state authorities. They also complain about different problems that delay their work and demand more resources. One of the most annoying and difficult obstacles are the limited number of employees for work, as set by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor. "I wonder how the Ministry issued such a regulation? They definitely have no idea about the nature of our work and needs.
They only allowed me to have five workers and I need at least seven to finish my work on time, especially after my business has grown and I receive more cars daily," Salah, a 29-year old partner of a car wash station in Shuweikh, told the Kuwait times. The Ministry has also set other conditions for employing staff.
"To limit expats coming to Kuwait, the Ministry is forcing us to hire those employees already working in the local market, unless they are university graduates.
Now, all the workers know this information so they have demanded increases in their salaries. So, if before they were receiving KD 80, they are now getting 120, which became the standard in our business. And if I need to bring in other workers, I have to attract them with even higher salaries, which becomes expensive for my business. Besides, there is no office in Kuwait to search in providing workers for me," he pointed out. "With respect to all nationalities, you know that the qualification and level of the Bengali or Indian worker is not on the level of the Filipino. And for KD 150 I can bring a professional technician from the Philippines, which most suits my needs and business, as I'm providing a high standard of services," explained Salah.
According to Salah, there is no equity in applying rules. "The small businesses owners are oppressed, since they don't have wasta. The law is not applied to the big companies, who can bring any number of employees they need. Also, the number of employees was set randomly by the Ministry. For instance, the car wash on my right side has 10 employees while the one on my left side has a limit of five, although we all are in the same business field," he added. "There are even many more problems with other authorities and we are facing bureaucracy in paper work at the municipality, the Ministry of Commerce, the Public Authority for Industry, Civil Information and many other offices.
If I could go back, I would not choose to operate this business," concluded Salah. Mohammed Al-Naki is a Kuwaiti businessman who is also suffering from the problems of hiring manpower. He decided to find a way to benefit from solar and wind energy as a hobby. He fixed wind energy fans at his house in Salwa, and this attracted people who are passing from the Mesila bridge on Fahaheel Road. The shortage of manpower is the biggest obstacle facing Al-Naqi's business. "I suffer from the public bureaucracy and some unfair rules.
I understand that the government has issued strict rules for importing manpower, as there are people trading with laborers and human trafficking. On the other hand it is unjustified as I need to bring in technicians from outside and they don't allow me to do so," he added.
© Kuwait Times 2012
