Pensions Rise Urged By MP

By Basma Mohammed, Gulf Daily News

October 26, 2008 

Bahrain

Pensions should be increased by at least 30 per cent to reflect the increasing cost of living in Bahrain, says an MP.

Jalal Fairooz also called for a rise in the salaries of Bahrainis working in private sector and said he plans to raise the issues in parliament. 

"These issues are serious, the country is affected by the rising prices and the government actually has reached economical affluence from the investments flowing into the country," he told the GDN.

Mr Fairooz said Bahrainis make up around 75 per cent of the country's private sector and around 50,000 get an average salary that does not exceed BD300.

"The private sector is still neglected," he told the GDN.

"The salaries of government sector employees have been raised but it didn't happen for the private sector employees.

"We have received requests to find a solution for this issue everyday and it is a huge concern.

"We are working on a legal suggestion to raise in parliament where the government helps increase the private sector employees' salaries."

Mr Fairooz said the government was paying a huge amount of money from its budget towards the military, which could be spent elsewhere

"This money should go to the people so that they will be able to make a decent living," he said.

Mr Fairooz also said that while retired private sector workers have received the same pension for more than a decade their counterparts in the government sector had received a three per cent increase every year.

"The last time private sector retirees got a raise in their retirement salary was 13 years ago," he said. "In 2005 a raise was supposed to happen but it didn't."

Mr Fairooz said another benefit that retired government sector workers have over their private sector counterparts was that they are able to take advantage of loans. "I think private and government sectors should get an increase in their salaries," he said. "The economical state we are living in today is different from 13 years ago, everything has gone up in price." 

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