Low Bahrainisation Rate – Ministers to be Questioned
A group of lawmakers is planning to quiz several ministers with regard to the existing low Bahrainisation rates in the public and private sectors.
The move comes few weeks after a special parliamentary committee, which was earlier formed to investigate the rates of Bahrainisation in both sectors, recommended the interpellation of several ministers for their alleged “unsatisfying” performance with regards to the matter.
The Parliamentarians believe that the Flexi Visa System and Parallel Bahrainisation have made it difficult for Bahrainis to find jobs. Recently, a proposal was approved in the Parliament that aims to limit certain professions in the private sector to only Bahrainis. MPs claimed that most high and middle-level posts in the private sector is going to expatriates, causing Bahrainis to miss out on lucrative opportunities. They called for a law to be enacted, which would restrict certain private-sector jobs to just Bahrainis.
The MPs pointed out the experience of Oman in implementing such a restriction. Oman has stopped issuing visa for expats for 87 jobs since past two years. The number of Bahrainis in the Kingdom reached 677,000 this year, constituting 45 per cent of the population, while there are 823,000 expatriates living here (55pc of the total population).
The data reveals that the number of expatriates has been growing substantially with over 64,000 foreigners arriving last year alone. The number of Bahrainis rose only by 12,000 last year when compared to 2016 numbers.
