By SOMAN BABY

EXPATRIATES who enrol at the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) festival have been promised legal assistance if they need it.

Thousands of people are shying away from the enrolment festival at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre, project manager Hassan Al Rahma said yesterday.

“If there are some expatriates who are worried about their legal status in the country for various reasons, we are ready to help them,” he told the GDN.

“Such people do not have to fear about enrolment at the festival. In fact, it will only help them in legal matters in future.

“We have a legal adviser at the festival who are ready to help such people.”

More than 66,000 expatriates registered during the first 12 days of the enrolment festival, which opened on June 4, said Mr Al Rahma.

This takes the number of expatriates registered with the LMRA so far to 321,182, or 66 per cent of all expatriate residents.

“This means more than 100,000 expatriates have still not registered,” said Mr Al Rahma.

“Because of the heavy rush and overcrowding at various centres, we decided to close them and organise this festival at the Exhibition Centre, which has a capacity to register up to 8,000 people daily.

“We have kept 3,700 chairs in the air-conditioned hall to make their registration process most comfortable. But we are sad to see that the chairs are empty most of the time.”

Out of 32 stations, six are dedicated to families, said LMRA public relation senior officer Abbas Busafwan.

“It takes only four minutes for each person to enrol, which includes the capturing of fingerprints, photograph and signature,” he added.

“During rush hours, it may take a maximum of half an hour for each person to complete the registration formalities.”

As the enrolment is open from 6.30am to 10.30pm, people cannot give an excuse that they are busy at the office, said Mr Busafwan.

“People can either come before or after the office hours or during the weekend holidays” he added.

For families, only husband and wife need to go.

Those who want to register should take their CPR cards with them.

However, those who have only a statement about their CPR from the Central Informatics Organisation, should carry another photo ID, such as their passport .

Mr Al Rahma appealed to companies to encourage their workers to register.

“Those who fail to register will find it extremely difficult after July 1 to get their official documents processed, including the renewal of their work permits,” he added.