Bahrain tries to allay postal workers' fears
Bahrain’s government has tried to allay postal workers’ fears that the impending privatisation of the service will lead to job cuts.
Assistant Under-Secretary for Post Shaikh Bader bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said the move to privatise Bahrain Post would not lead to downsizing, and claimed that it would in fact lead to growth in the sector and more jobs created.
“We can introduce financial services, transport, logistics and all these will need more employees. It will also perhaps liberate the market.
“The telecommunications industry has shown us that once the market is opened, the workers in the field have grown and the same could be applied to the post office,” he added.
Shaikh Bader’s comments follow a demonstration by around 250 workers in Friday to highlight fears over privatisation.
Approximately 450 people work for Bahrain Post, with around 85 pct of them Bahraini nationals.
Shaikh Bader said the government was still investigating how best to implement the privatisation, and that it was unlikely to go ahead until next year.
Bahrain first began studying plans to privatise its postal service in 2005.
