By MANDEEP SINGH,

CONTRACTORS yesterday called for immediate scrapping of the BD10 monthly fee imposed on employers for every expatriate they employ.
It comes as the latest Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) deadline to employers to pay or lose their visas ended last night.
The labour fee was first implemented in July but when many contractors failed to pay up in a few months, the LMRA set March 31 of this year as the deadline for all business owners and government organisations to verify and complete their expatriate labour records and pay the fee.
The deadline was later extended after it was reported many expatriates had failed to regularise their visas due to a backlog of their medical examination cases at the Health Ministry.
The LMRA then said it received hundreds of calls from people, saying they were given appointments for examinations weeks after the expiry of the deadline.
Employers had until last night to pay their outstanding fees to the LMRA or risk having all their foreign workers’ visas cancelled.
The measure would include employers who have failed to register and update their information as well as those who have not renewed their employees’ expired work visas.
It would also affect those who have not paid the monthly fee for more than three months and those who flouted other conditions.
Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) contractors committee chairman Samir Nass said either the government should strictly implement the fee on every employer or scrap the system.
“We are not any more prepared to be taken for a ride because those companies that are paying up are losing their competitive edge,” he told the GDN.
“We feel the latest LMRA deadline is just another ploy to ensure those who have been paying continue to do so. But how long can we continue to do that?
“How long can we stay quiet? We are told 75 per cent of the companies are paying up but what about those who are not? Why should we pay when they are not?
“We do not mind paying but, at the end of the day, we wish to be competitive as well. This free ride some companies are enjoying has to end.”
He said there was no way the companies who pay and those who do not could compete on a level-playing field.
“We support the LMRA’s attempts to get these companies to pay up, but want to know if they would.”
He said contractors also wanted to know whether all those failing to pay up would be thrown in jail.
“Are they going to be deported? Will thousands be losing their jobs? Is this possible? These threats cannot be implemented. It is not practical.”
His comments come a day after MPs revolted over labour fees and the unemployment tax and voted to freeze the BD10 fee until January.
They said the government should renegotiate with the employers following a wave of protests over the fees.
The Shura Council will now vote on the proposals.
A Bahrain Contractors Society spokesman said yesterday he was happy the MPs had voted to freeze the fees.
“If implemented fully, we should have reason to celebrate because we have so far been having a hand-to-mouth existence,” said Wahid Ali Yousif Al Demestani.
The society had spearheaded a protest since March to get the fee scraped, but gave it up in favour of campaigning “by word of mouth” and by talking with MPs and Shura Council members, in mid-May.
Society chairman Nedham Kameshki said the smaller contractors in particular were being “robbed” by the LMRA.
“They are eating them up.
“I have visited some people who have severe medical problems simply because they are unable to cope with the fee and other charges.
“A board member of the society has been in hospital following a massive heart attack. He said he could not pay to send his children to school or cope with the severe mental pressure.
“Who is responsible for all this? They should not be killing us. They should help us. This is not fair.”
He said there was a huge market for big jobs, while the smaller jobs did not come easily.
“What this is doing is that while the bigger contractors are getting jobs, the smaller ones are suffering. And that is why the smaller ones cannot afford to pay.”
He said he did not know what was going to happen after the deadline expired.
“Only time will tell what befalls us.”
LMRA officials could not be reached for comment.