Tamkeen affirms ongoing monitoring efforts to prevent any misuse of support programs

Manama, The Labour Fund (Tamkeen) affirmed its ongoing regulatory efforts aimed at preventing any manipulation or misuse of the support programmes and praised the continuous cooperation shown by the relevant authorities in the safeguarding of public funds and directing support to the rightful beneficiaries. This announcement comes following the issuance of a conviction in a violation previously reported by Tamkeen to the Public Prosecution concerning the misuse of the National Employment Programme, one of Tamkeen's flagship support programmes. Through ongoing monitoring activities and site visits, Tamkeen's violations committee was able to detect and confirm the violation. The results revealed that the beneficiary exploited Tamkeen's support funds through the Ghost Employment of 23 employees. While the enterprise was an existing entity based on the records of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and had registered its employees in the Social Insurance Organisation (SIO), it was revealed that the enterprise was not present at the address registered with Tamkeen or any other addresses, and none of the workers that were claimed to be employees had joined the organisation. After verifying all the details of the case, Tamkeen's Violations Committee proceeded to escalate a report to the General Directorate of Anti-Corruption and Economic and Electronic Security, which in turn referred it to the Public Prosecution. This violation marks a breach in the laws and regulations of Bahrain and defrauds several official authorities in the Kingdom to unlawfully obtain support funds. Tamkeen praised the collaborative effort with the relevant authorities to ensure the implementation of Bahrain's laws and regulations, as well as adherence of Tamkeen's internal regulatory policies. Tamkeen also urged enterprises to comply with all the terms and conditions as well as regulations to avoid any violating practices that could result in implying disciplinary measures against them. This comes as Tamkeen continues its regulatory effort s in monitoring the employment and wage support programmes. More than 4,300 inspection visits have been conducted since the programmes launch in November 2023 to date. Tamkeen urges all beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of support programmes to report any violations or misuse in full confidentiality through the designated channels, which include the dedicated page on the website www.tamkeen.bh/whistleblower-form, the whistleblowing hotline 17383383, or via email at [email protected]. Source: Bahrain News Agency