MPs urge reinstatement of cost-of-living payments for low-income workers

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Five MPs have filed an urgent proposal calling for the cost-of-living allowance for low-income earners to be reinstated for those whose payments were stopped, with driving instructors and other self-employed workers at the centre of the request.

The proposal was signed by MP Zainab AbdulAmeer, Khalid Buanaq, Ahmed Al Salloom, Hisham Al Awadhi, and Eman Shuwaiter.

In an explanatory memorandum, the MPs said the request seeks the return and continuation of the allowance for self-employed workers, especially driving instructors, against a backdrop of higher living costs that they said has reduced income and purchasing power.

Payments

They said the halt in payments for some people in these trades has left them facing day-to-day expenses without the support they previously received, despite ongoing living obligations and rising costs.

The memorandum said this has affected their financial and living stability and widened the gap between income and basic needs.

The MPs said the proposal aims to provide ongoing financial support for low-income earners, bring self-employed workers, particularly driving instructors, back within the group eligible for the allowance, and ease the burden linked to higher prices for goods and services.

Support

They also said it is intended to support social justice and improve living stability for those affected by the suspension.

They justified treating it as urgent by pointing to the pressure created by the continued halt, warning it could lead to further day-to-day difficulty and economic instability, and calling for fast action to restore the support and meet its stated purpose.