Unemployed Bahrainis protest over labour minister, income tax

Jun 29, 2007, 17:15 GMT

Manama - Unemployed Bahrainis marched through the streets of Manama Friday renewing a demand for the removal of the labour minister and expressing opposition to recently-imposed 1 per cent income tax.

The call to remove minister Majid Bin Muhsin al-Alawi came from the Committee for the Unemployed and Low-Wage (CULW) that organized the march - the second of its kind this month.

The CULW blames al-Alawi for failure of the country's National Employment Project (NEP) to address unemployment issues and for recent comments he made in which he accused the unemployed of being lazy and seeking only comfortable government jobs.

The protesters also expressed opposition to the new 1 per cent income tax that the government began to implement this month as part of a scheme to financially support the unemployed.

'We support having a programme to assist the unemployed, but unemployment is a problem that the government needs to address - not one which the people who are already underpaid have to pay for,' CULW board member Nader al-Salatna told Deutsche presse-Agentur dpa.

A CULW statement issued after the march called on the government to ensure that the jobs offered to the unemployed meet the minimum monthly wage of 350 dinar (dollars), at a time where the government sees a minimum wage of 100 to 150 dinars.

According to figures issued by the Bahraini government unemployment stands at 3 to 4 per cent, but the opposition claims that unemployment surpasses 12 per cent and that those living below the minimum wage surpass 40 per cent.

Some 100,000 workers, including more than 65,000 employed in the private sector and some 35,000 in the public sector, had the 1 per cent tax deducted from their salaries.

Trade unions rejected as unfair the implementation of the deduction, under which military personnel and elected officials in parliament and municipal councils are exempt.

Assistant undersecretary for Labour Affairs Jamil Humaidan claimed in late May that the scheme will put Bahrain on a par with advanced countries in terms of social insurance for its citizens.