Life on the Spot! Life and Leisure in Doha, Qatar

Businessmen here have reacted sharply to Bahrain’s plan to scrap the sponsorship system for foreign workers and said if such a move was made here it could spell disaster for them. Manama has announced it would enforce on August 1 a new labour law that would allow expatriate workers to switch jobs without seeking permission from their employer. The Peninsula - But some expatriates The Peninsula spoke to lauded Bahrain and said it would become the first GCC state to take such a step. “It would make their labour market mobile and competitive, which would be good for the country’s economy,” Adil, an expatriate said, refusing to divulge his full name. The Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI), representative body of the private sector, without hailing or criticising Bahrain’s plans, said point-blank there was no need to remove the existing sponsorship system. “Our sponsorship law is well-organised, so there...

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Bahrain said yesterday it would scrap its existing sponsorship system for foreign workers in the hope of reducing its need for expatriate labour, a first in a region often criticised by rights groups over the issue. Many sectors of Gulf Arab economies heavily rely on low-qualified foreign workers, mostly from Asian countries. “We’re working on identifying a ceiling on expatriate workers in Bahrain,” said Labour Minister Majeed Al Alawi in a statement published by Bahrain’s official news agency. He added the country’s Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) will determine the limit in a study this year. Under the new regulations, foreign workers will be directly sponsored by the LMRA and therefore able to move jobs without the consent of their previous employer. The changes will be effective from August. The previous system, which is common in Gulf Arab states and under which employers do the sponsoring, has long been criticised...

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Beware of clicking any email supposedly coming from Doha Bank. The Login link it links to a phishing site to get your account numbers. Here's the sample that the email might contain.

Doha Bank
You have incorrectly entered your details too many times. to prevent unauthorised access to your accounts,we have suspended your use of this service,To regain access please Click log on below.

I'm not a client of Doha Bank so I was surprised to get an email from them. The curios thing about this is that it is actually coming from 2 emails.One is from secure.alert@dohabank.com.qa and the other is secure.sms@doha.com.qa.

Make sure you don't click on the Login!

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A friend of mine from Saudi who’s in constant communication with me has always been generous in giving praises whenever I tell her that I drive here in Doha. She’s simply amazed that I am actually driving here already. Then she tells me about someone they know who’s just new driving in Saudi, how that person is so scared to drive. I tell my friend that I too am a bit scared but I had to brave if I want to be able to drive. I just try my best to drive safely and pray a lot especially before I start driving. I also start telling her that their friend has a valid reason to be terrified when driving in Saudi. Having lived there for 4 years, I can attest that it is indeed a scary thing to be on the road when in Saudi. It’s like 80% of the...

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