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How a grocer got 70 visas approved?

THE danger of surplus workers is evident in their involvement in illegal activities. Those labourers are feeding all unlawful and criminal activities in the country.

Many workers enter the country, but they do not work for their sponsor. Instead, they are let loose — once they attain the work permit — to find work and fend for themselves. Now, this is what is called redundancy of workers. The employer or the sponsor may have made some money by letting these workers enter the country on his sponsorship, though he has no intention of employing those labourers.

A news item reported in a cross-section of local dailies will serve as a vivid example of surplus workers. It is about a grocery which the Ministry of Labour discovered had sponsored more than 70 Asian employees since a couple of years. Now, even if that particular grocery functions at its full capacity and during rush hours, it will not require more than a handful of persons.

So, the question is how did such a shop sponsor 70 employees, and on what grounds were the visas issued to the employer? We believe there was something wrong somewhere, but in the meantime, we have no room for doubt that the Minister for Labour and Social Affairs Dr Ali bin Abdullah Al Kaabi, with his persistence in pursuing transparency, will reveal to everyone the secret of that grocery shop.

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