.jpg?20260310')
PRIVATE hospitals could be forced to achieve a minimum of 50 per cent Bahrainisation following amendments approved by Parliament yesterday.
Official documents provided to MPs by the Supreme Council for Health, the Labour Ministry and the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) have attempted to reassure MPs that there is a 20pc Bahrainisation in the sector.
However, Parliament’s first deputy speaker Abdulnabi Salman said that the ‘expertise, degrees and experience of foreign medical professionals’ isn’t being checked or monitored.
“We all visited the private health care facilities and the Bahrainisation isn’t even 0pc,” he said.
“We are under immense pressure and the Labour Ministry is making matters worse with the Labour Minister stating that there are difficulties in hiring Bahraini doctors due to training challenges.
“If the Labour Ministry is spending millions on training facilities why aren’t the doctors being trained.”
He urged Labour Minister Jameel Humaidan to take ‘real steps in hiring Bahraini doctors’ and refuted claims by LMRA that Bahrainisation in private health care facilities was at 20pc.
“Bahrainisation in Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) is decreasing and maybe now Bahrainis are at 20pc with expatriates making up the larger percentage,” added Mr Salman.
“All our hospitals, including the BDF Hospital and the King Hamad University Hospital, are full of expatriates.
“There have been discoveries of forged degrees in other countries and unsanctioned operations and yet in Bahrain there isn’t even simple monitoring.”
Meanwhile, Parliament’s services committee chairman Mamdooh Al Saleh reaffirmed that legislations passed must be followed up to ensure proper implementation especially given the higher numbers of unemployed medical professionals.
He added that private sector hospitals such as Al Kindi Hospital and Ibn Al Nafees Hospital are a source of pride for their high levels of Bahrainisation while the majority of private hospitals are full of expatriate medical professionals.
Parliament’s financial and economic affairs committee chairman Mohammed Al Ahmed said ‘there is no real monitoring of the field to ensure its Bahrainisation’.
“As MPs we have been approached by many unemployed Bahraini doctors who want this issue to be resolved,” said Mr Al Ahmed yesterday.
“LMRA said that it requires 20pc mandatory Bahrainisation as a condition to license a facility but this is just written statements on paper as there is no real monitoring or inspection of these facilities to ensure the quotas are fulfilled.”
MPs also approved an amendment to the 2006 Labour Market Regulatory Law that gives employees a 30-day grace period to renew their workers’ permits rather than being fined immediately after the permits’ expiry.
MPs also approved granting Fasht Al Jarem and Fasht Al Adhem the same status – protected natural reserve by law – as Tubli Bay.
Fasht Al Jarem and Fasht Al Adhem are rich in marine biodiversity, with MPs seeking punishments of up to BD100,000 and three years in prison for breaches and destruction.
&uuid=(email))