Doha
The system of transferring workers from one project to another on conclusion of their works is beneficial to Qatar, a senior official told local Arabic daily Al Watan.
"The Permanent Recruitment Committee at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MOLSA) studied this concept and found it good," explained chairman Ibrahim Abdullah al-Dehaimi.
The system is beneficial to Qatar due to the huge volume of construction and infrastructure projects scheduled for implementation.
Such workers acquire good experience about the requirements of the work in the country and could function better than newcomers.
Accordingly, the workers of concluded projects would be asked whether they would like to continue work with other projects, whether with the same company or other companies and accordingly granted a transfer or extension of residency.
However, this should be based on the reports of field visits of labour inspectors who assess the situation on the ground, he added.
The official also asserted there is no ban on recruiting workers from any country. "The reason for rejecting work visa applications would only be due to the bad record of the company concerned," stated al-Dehaimi.
"Such companies may have exploited workers from certain nationalities or had troubles with them. The committee is keen to recruit workers from more than 32 countries with which Qatar has signed workers' treaties.
Workers with construction skills and expertise are the most requested by recruiters with the Nepalese being the highest on demand, followed by the Indian and Bangladeshi workers.
Companies also prefer them because they could join work fast. The committee receives around 500-700 recruitment applications a week for various nationalities.
Al-Dehaimi was of the view that Qatar should appoint labour attaches in countries with which it has labour agreements.
