By SOMAN BABY

A MASSIVE crackdown is underway after nearly 21,000 companies were discovered breaking Bahrain’s labour laws.

Officials are also investigating 5,000 suspected ghost companies, set up to cash in on visa racketeering.

Bahrainis, newly-recruited to jobs, will also have to register with the Labour Ministry, under the crackdown on companies faking Bahrainisation levels.

High numbers of Bahraini women supposedly employed in the construction industry are also being probed, since officials believe they are “ghost workers”.

A total of 189 establishments have already been taken to court for various violations 1,169 work permits cancelled by the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA), it was revealed yesterday.

An LMRA decision to raise the ceiling of expatriate workers who can be employed by construction companies, will also help cut down the number of illegal workers in the country, said LMRA chief executive Ali Radhi.

Inspection campaigns will now be stepped up as there is no excuse for the construction sector to employ expatriate workers illegally, he told a Press conference.

It was jointly organised by the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) contractors’ committee, Labour Ministry, Industry and Commerce Ministry, and Social Insurance Organisation (SIO).

BCCI contractors’ committee chairman Samir Nass, vice-chairman and Bahrain Contractors Society president Nedham Kameshki, Commerce Ministry assistant under-secretary for domestic trade Hameed Rahma, Labour Ministry employment director Dr Mohammed Al Ansari and SIO deputy chief executive Zakaria Sultan also spoke at the Press conference, held at the LMRA headquarters, Sanabis.

Mr Radhi said inspection campaigns were undertaken by LMRA jointly with other government agencies to stamp out various illegal practices in the labour market.

“The campaign started late last year and we found that 20,815 establishments had violated LMRA rules,” he revealed.

“Out of these, 2,818 were construction companies which employed 7,292 workers illegally.

“There are 10,141 companies involved in various construction activities and they together employ 158,528 workers.”

Mr Radhi said more than 50 per cent of runaway cases reported to LMRA were from the construction sector.

“We have so far registered 15,161 runaway cases of expatriate workers and 7,927 of them are construction workers,” he added.

“Spot checks carried out in 126 companies showed that there were discrepancies in their records.”

Mr Radhi said the majority of illegal activities were committed by ‘C’ grade contractors.

“The LMRA board has decided to raise the ceiling of expatriates who can be employed by them from 15 to 20, ” he noted.

‘B’ grade contractors can now recruit 100 workers, instead of 50 in the past while ‘A’ grade contractors can recruit unlimited number of workers.

“While ‘A’ grade contractors have to maintain five per cent Bahrainisation, both B and C have to maintain eight per cent.”

Mr Nass and Mr Kameshki welcomed the initiative taken by the LMRA.

“Because of the huge numbers involved, it will be difficult for ‘A’ grade contractors to maintain eight pc Bahrainisation,” said Mr Nass.

“We welcome the decision to reduce it to five pc.

“The LMRA has come out with proper statistics and it will help us in the proper planning of construction activities. In the past, we were kept in the dark.”

Mr Nass also praised the LMRA initiative in conducting an open dialogue with the private sector.

Mr Kameshki said he was happy the LMRA had decided to step up its inspection campaign.

“There have been cases of some contractors luring workers from other sites and employing them illegally,” he noted.

“They do it to save the LMRA fees and related costs involved in employing foreign workers. We urge all contractors, especially the ‘C’ grade companies, to stop such illegal activities and abide by LMRA rules.”

Mr Radhi released figures of recruitment by construction companies during the fourth quarter of 2008.

“Out of 4,893 workers, Bahrainis and non-Bahrainis, recruited during this period, 456 were females,” he noted.

“Among 4,095 non-Bahrainis recruited, only 38 were females.

“However, the surprise finding is that out of 798 Bahraini workers recruited by the construction sector, 418 were females.

“We suspect that the figures are fictitious. A thorough study is being carried out because some companies just hire the CPR cards of ghost workers to artificially meet the Bahrainisation target.”

Mr Radhi said 1,169 work permits had already been cancelled and 189 establishments were being taken to court for such offences.

“We shall not issue work permits for such companies until they set the records straight,” he added.

Meanwhile, Dr Al Ansari said a new rule would come into force on March 20, whereby all newly-recruited Bahrainis have to personally register themselves with the Labour Ministry.

“We shall verify their records and make sure that they are genuinely employed by the respective companies,” he noted.

Mr Sultan said the SIO would not register any Bahraini unless his/her application was supported by a certificate from the Labour Ministry.

“We are giving a grace period to all employers until the end of April to correct their records,” he added.

“Steps have also been taken to register all non-Bahraini workers with SIO electronically through LMRA.

“This means all expatriates will be registered with SIO as soon as they arrive in Bahrain.”

Mr Rahma said the Industry and Commerce Ministry’s inspection of commercial establishments revealed that 7,000 CR (commercial registration) holders have violated the rules.

“About 2,000 CRs have already been cancelled as they do not exist. The majority of them are construction companies and butcher’s shops,” he added.

“We are studying whether the remaining 5,000 are also ghost companies,” he added.

“We have sent notices to all CR holders to prove whether they are in business or not.

“We shall soon undertake a survey jointly with Central Informatics Organisation (CIO) to verify the status of industrial and manufacturing licences issued by the Industry and Commerce Ministry.