A proposal to ease the cap on expatriate workers employed by construction companies was approved yesterday.

Under it, third category firms would be entitled to employ 20 expatriates, up from 15 at present.

The number of expatriates employed by second category companies would be doubled to 100.

Third category entrepreneurs wishing to recruit more expatriates would be allowed to switch to the second.

They will be allowed to become first category entrepreneurs should they exceed the number of expatriates allowed for the second category under the proposal.

The committee in charge of promoting Bahrainisation in the construction sector approved the proposal.

It includes Samir Abdulla Nass, Nidham Saleh Kamashki, Shaikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa, Mazin Ahmed Al Omran, Abdulrasool Al Massib, Yahya Al Shaikh and Taraq Kamal.

Labour Market Regulatory Authority chief executive Ali Radhi attended the meeting.

“The new procedures follow attempts by certain entrepreneurs to obtain work permits via LMRA websites by tampering with regulations,” he said.

He said LMRA inspectors had discovered several cases of ghost Bahraini employees. Some companies even recruited Bahrainis in their 50s and housewives who did not exist, Mr Radhi said.