Bahrain - The proposal was presented during parliament’s weekly session yesterday despite Parliament and Shura Council Affairs Minister Ghanim Al Buainain stating that 85 per cent of public sector jobs were already occupied by Bahrainis.

Mr Al Buainain also pointed out that parliament’s legislative and legal affairs committee was already looking into amendments to Article 11 of the 2010 Civil Service Law that sets the criteria for those eligible to hold government jobs.

He said the proposal was unnecessary as parliament last week formed a probe committee into the recruitment of expatriates in the country’s public sector.

The probe, which will run for a month, will also address the hiring of foreign staff at all government entities – including companies in which the government owns a 51 per cent stake.

Parliament also called for expats currently working for the government to be replaced by Bahrainis within six months.

“There is a pool of legislation all with the same concept and could be easily looked into by the probe committee, and to be honest why give us four years rather than the six months – isn’t that a huge setback to the investigation conducted by parliament,” questioned Mr Al Buainain.

“Just to clarify, expatriates are not an issue in the public sector as they only comprise 15pc in rare and unwanted jobs, while 85pc of employees are Bahrainis.

“Again, we are working with parliament to decrease the 15pc as we get more qualified Bahrainis and have more appealing jobs.”

However, Bahrain’s longest serving MP Adel Al Asoomi, who is also Arab Parliament deputy speaker, said the four-year time period was more realistic than the six months set last week.

“There are existing contracts that will have to run out and we need expats in those posts to train Bahrainis, while giving the government more time to rehabilitate others to take up the unwanted jobs by making them more interesting, either through incentives or marketable mechanisms,” he said.

“So the six months is unrealistic and can’t be met and I see four years to be more stable and reasonable to ensure things are done in a proper manner.

“It is sad that some companies in Bahrain have better Bahrainisation levels than several ministries that are filled with expatriates in numerous departments.”

During debate on the proposal, MP Khaled Bu Onk also said that the annual remittance by expatriate workers was around BD927.2 million, meaning they were not spending money in the local economy.

“Expatriate workers in Bahrain are not contributing to the economy or its development – BD927.2m in remittances just shows where their money goes, which is mainly to their mother countries,” he said.

“Those expats are taking up jobs that Bahrainis can easily fill – Bahraini families spend thousands of dinars to educate their children and then see jobs in the same specialisation snatched unnecessarily by expatriates.”

He added that a total of 9,731 expatriates were working in the government, according to 2017 statistics, and 56,000 were working in the private sector, according to new statistics revealed by the government.

“This shows that expatriates constitute 76pc of the working population which should mostly be given to Bahrainis,” he said.

 

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