DOHA: Qatar and Nepal have vowed to punish manpower agencies in the Himalayan nation if they illegally charge Qatar-bound Nepalese workers money.
Qatar said categorically yesterday that its laws did not permit foreigners hired to work to pay a single penny in the process.
All expenses involved in hiring a foreign worker are paid by Qatari companies, said Qatar, adding that it needs more migrant workers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup projects.
“Our law requires Qatari companies to pay for everything to hire migrant workers and anyone who does not abide will be punished,” said Qatar’s Minister of Labour and Social Affairs.
H E Dr Abdullah bin Saleh Al Khulaifi told reporters in Kathmandu on the second day of his four-day official visit to Nepal: “All hiring and travel expenses for migrant workers are borne by our companies”.
Al Khulaifi earlier met Nepal’s Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Tek Bahadur Gurung, after meeting Foreign Minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
“Talks during the meeting (with Gurung) dealt with key topics of mutual interest,” QNA said.
Citing details, nepaltimes.com reported that Al Khulaifi said that among other things, Qatar was mulling providing life insurance cover to Nepalese workers.
Gurung said at a press conference after meeting Al Khulaifi that Qatar and Nepal had vowed to clamp down on manpower agencies that illegally took money from Qatar-bound Nepalese workers.
He said Nepalese manpower agencies charged workers bound for Qatar anything between Rs70,000 and Rs100,000 (QR1 is equivalent to Rs27.51).
“It is illegal. We will blacklist those manpower companies that charge money from Qatar-bound Nepalese workers,” the minister was quoted as saying.
He added that Qatari companies that hired migrant workers paid for everything — from their visa fee to air ticket.
Al Khulaifi reiterated at the news conference that Qatari laws required that companies hiring migrant workers bear all expenses or face the music.
The online newspaper nepaltimes.com said, citing a report by Nepal’s Department of Foreign Employment, that there were over 400,000 Nepalese workers in Qatar.
In his meetings with Nepalese officials, Al Khulaifi promised that Qatar will ensure good living and working conditions, occupational safety and “life insurance for Nepalese migrant workers”.
There will be 13 new beds and four new consulting rooms and two new rooms for preliminary check-up (blood pressure and body temperature).
With this expansion, the total number of beds will increase to 55 and the consulting/diagnosis rooms will become 17.
“When the paediatric hospital is ready, the Al Sadd facility will be cancelled,” said Al Amri.
He said the five PEC units in Qatar received a total of 553,961 visitors last year. Al Sadd PEC had the highest number of visitors at 326,031. The other units are based in Al Rayyan, Airport area, Al Daain and Al Shamal.
He said the main challenge faced by the paediatric centers is a lack of cooperation from some parents.
“They cannot wait even for a while. Our priority is based on the case and not by nationality,” he added.
He said currently waiting time at PEC for most urgent cases is not more than five minutes. Waiting time for other cases vary from 15 minutes to 21 minutes depending on the urgency of the cases.
In rare cases, the waiting can go up two hours, especially when there is a rush and this happens mostly during winter and the evening shifts.
He said the PEC investigates when it receives complaints about medical errors.
Some parents resort to verbal assault against doctors and nurses and there were also few incidents of physical assault, that were referred to the Public Prosecution.
Al Amir said during 2014, the PEC recorded 26 cases of child abuse, found during medical examinations.
“ In such cases, we inform the police immediately even without knowledge about the parents because they need to be investigated. Sometimes we admit them for further treatment,” Said Al Amri.
He said the PEC also received abandoned children found in front of mosques, near garbage bins and other places. There is a special section at the Hamad Medical Corporation to deal with such children.
THE PENINSULA
