Adel Fakieh, Minister of Labor, has ordered an investigation into the case of a man who said he had to pay a bribe to have an expatriate worker's sponsorship transferred to him. The transfer application was earlier rejected by Labor Office in Madina because, officials said, the worker's vocation was not compatible with his enterprise's activity. The man complained to Fakieh when he toured the Labor Office here on Wednesday. The minister asked the man to write and submit an official complaint and instructed officials to investigate the matter. Fakieh inspected work at Labor Office's sections, including the women's section, where he was briefed by its head about its performance, work and procedures for serving female clients and visitors. He convened a meeting with the office director and section heads in which he stressed the importance of providing good service, emphasizing that it needs development in the form of more technical equipment and training courses for employees. During the press conference after the visit, Fakieh asked to be sent the verdict issued by the Board of Grievances banning the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) from charging fees from owners of training institutes. The institutes had to raise training costs for Saudi trainees to be able to pay the fees imposed by the TVTC and some had to close because of the fees' effects on their budgets. “If the Ministry of Labor officially gets a verdict issued by the Board of Grievances then we will adhere to it,” said Fakieh, who defended the fees. “These fees had a positive effect on the training market,” he said. “Weak training institutes and centers got out.” __
