FWRA: While some of the foreign workers recruitment agents (FWRA) from the 21 suspended in 2014 in Phuentsholing have cancelled their licences and moved on, some are still waiting with hope.

Following an investigation, the anti-corruption commission (ACC) suspended the licences because agents were found guilty of corrupt practices.

Later, the Department of Trade notified the agents to close the recruitment works, following which the Department of Labour stopped their online recruitment accounts.

One of the FWRA owners in the town said that this has stopped him from handling the works in hand and that the situation is confusing.

“We were supposed to listen to what the ACC told us,” said the FWRA owner.

He said that the labour department has also stopped the works he had been doing for a contractor. He was helping a contractor work in recruitment processes as even the contractors were allowed to recruit on their own.

In the meanwhile, FWRA owners are concerned whether they should pay the annual income and cancel their licences.

“We are basically looking for a conclusion,” the owner said. “If our licences are reinstated, we would like to rectify our mistakes and work hard.”

The director with the labour department, Jigme Thinley, said that it is too early to comment whether the agencies’ licences will be reinstated.

“We don’t know what the charges are,” he said. “Until the verdict is out, we have nothing to say,”said Jigme Thinley.

The ACC, in the meanwhile, has forwarded the cases to the Office of Attorney General.

Recently, the licence of the Menjong FWRA in Phuentsholing was also suspended.

By Rajesh Rai

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