By Soman Baby

MORE than 5,000 companies could soon be fined for refusing to pay fees to the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA).

Fines will be introduced from today for companies that continue to ignore the new fees.

Violators could also be blacklisted, meaning they will not be granted visas to hire additional foreign workers, warned LMRA e-services manager and acting public relations manager Waheed Al Balushi.

He said all labour transactions with such companies would be stopped.

“We issue 43,000 invoices every month,” Mr Al Balushi told the GDN.

“About 5,000 of them are not paying and they are not responding to our calls.

“Their details have been transferred to our inspection department for necessary action.”

Companies should have been paying BD200 for each two-year work visa they obtain for a foreigner plus BD10 every month for each expat worker on their books since the LMRA took charge of issuing visas in July.

They have been given a grace period of six months to start paying the fees and no punishments have been dished out for those who have not.

However, that grace period ended yesterday and Mr Al Balushi said the LMRA would now take a tough approach to companies that fail to pay.

“From January 1, companies which delay payments have to pay a BD2 fine for each worker every month,” he said.

“If there is a repeated delay in payment, we shall stop all transactions with such companies.”

Eighty per cent of the money collected from the fees will go to Tamkeen (Labour Fund) to pay for the training of Bahrainis.

“The delay in payment affects the projects designed by Tamkeen to train Bahrainis in different vocations,” he added.

“We therefore appeal to all companies to co-operate with us in the best interests of Bahrain.”

Meanwhile, Mr Al Balushi warned that all expatriates whose work and residence visas have expired would be treated as illegal workers from today. “We gave them enough time to renew it (their visa) within 30 days of its expiry, or to move to another employer,” he added. “There are no more chances to renew or move to other jobs. All such illegal workers must leave the country.” Mr Al Balushi added the number of illegal workers still in Bahrain was not known.