DOHA: The Ministry of Labour has set up a task force to study the job market and recommend measures to ease visa procedures for young single women.
Although procedures to issue visas to single foreign women are already in place, they could be simplified on the recommendations of the above task force.
The Acting Minister for Labour and Minister for Social Affairs, H E Nasser bin Abdullah Al Humaidi, told local Arabic daily Al Watan in an interview yesterday that restrictions on hiring young single women were aimed at ensuring their safety and betterment.
The task force, he said, was studying loopholes in the procedures for issuing work visas to women and it would give its recommendations.
The minister also hinted that men working in outlets that cater exclusively to women, like lingerie shops, would be replaced as more and more visas are issued to single foreign women.
When told that Qatari manpower agencies were allowed to deal with only two recruitment agencies in the Philippines, but Filipino agencies were free to deal with all Qatari manpower agencies, the minister said he would soon remove this discrepancy.
The ministry, he said, had asked manpower agencies to explore bringing in maids from several newly-opened markets.
Talking about work visas issued to companies so that they can hire foreign workers, Al Humaidi said less than one percent, or about 500 private companies out of about 80,000, were having problems in getting work visas.
A team from the Ministry of Labour is visiting these companies to find out their problems and solve them immediately.
The daily told the minister that the owner of a manpower agency was heading a committee that is part of the ministry and is in charge of manpower agencies, and this allowed him to manipulate things to his benefit.
The minister simply replied that all manpower agencies were registered with the Qatar Chamber, the representative body of the private sector, and they had appointed the said person as head of the committee.
He, however, added that the labour ministry took decisions that affect manpower agencies after meeting representatives from all manpower agencies.
THE PENINSULA
