RIYADH: Minister of Labor Eng. Adel Fakieh presented a proposal Sunday to a committee in the Shoura Council to reduce visa fees for recruiting domestic workers including housemaids, drivers and farmers, sources told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. The proposal would meet citizens' requirements and also put a limit to domestic workers abandoning their sponsors, he said, and plug loopholes in laws that make it possible for workers who have fled their sponsors to find other employment, according to sources. The dialogue focused on how to modify those laws through a system that would control the market rules and procedures and serve the society by attracting the domestic workers they need, sources said. The loopholes need to be addressed, said Dr. Saeed Al-Sheikh, chairman of the group studying the proposal to reduce visa fees for recruiting domestic workers. Fakieh came to the Shoura Council to present the Ministry of Labor's views and proposals and hold consultations on the matters, Dr. Al-Sheikh said. His proposals include establishing companies to recruit domestic workers, which would work parallel to the existing companies, for recruiting individuals for short periods of time. The idea is being studied in the Ministry of Labor, Dr. Al-Sheikh said. Ministry officials are working aggressively on the project to help ensure it is implemented in the near future, he said. Fakieh said the Ministry of Labor is working hard to solve the problems of unemployment and Saudization and that doing so requires a wide range of meetings and intensive communication between his office and the Shoura Council which he looks forward to having, Dr. Al-Sheikh related. By presenting his proposal to the Special Committee, he sought to have it included in the committee's proposals, he added. The meeting also included discussions of a number of subjects including the proposal presented by several Shoura Council members to reduce recruitment fees for visas and residence permits for domestic workers, employing Saudis in the private sector, Saudization of taxi-driver jobs and several other matters under the Ministry of Labor's jurisdiction.
