A better future for unemployment [Archives:2009/1223/Opinion]
By: Osama Ghalib
Only three hundred, ninety one job opportunities were determined for the capital of congestions, Aden, for the year 2009, while job seekers applying for such opportunities number up to thirteen thousand with various majors. This means that 33 graduates will compete for a single job opportunity in case eligibility verification is fairly applied on applicants, however, this is impossible to take place under the current system of governance.
In the best cases, as many as 100 job opportunities will go to some protest activists in the southern governorate in order to silence them, particularly as the upcoming parliamentary election is drawing nearer and nearer.
Ninety-one job opportunities will be posted in a secret auction, which only the most corrupt individuals will know about. YR 200,000 is the minimum bid (offered as bribes) to be paid by applicants if they are willing to compete for the available job opportunities. Those who can not afford to pay this amount should seek other jobs, or migrate illegally to neighboring states in search of work, according a recommendation given by Political Advisor to President of the Republic Dr. Abdulkarim Al-Eryani.
Taiz: Capital of Unemployment
Only 560 job opportunities were designated for the capital of unemployment, Taiz, compared to 40 thousand jobless applicants, who are already registered in the governorate's Civil Service Office. One hundred of these jobs will be given to residents of Bani Wahban district, and the same share to influential individuals, who are loyal with the ruling party.
Applicants for Taiz's share of job opportunities will undergo eligibility verification, provided that Taiz governor, who once served as Minister of Civil Service and Social Insurance, is allegedly an expert in applying this criteria, however, in fact he was notorious for corruption in his ministry.
Establishing a comparison between job opportunities offered for Taiz and Aden uncovers lack of the simplest criteria, which is the directional relation between the number of job seekers per governorate and the job opportunities provided to them.
The way jobs are designated to each governorate is politicized irrespective of justifications provided by the relevant authorities. Otherwise, how one can explain the provision of a single job opportunity for every 71 graduates in Taiz while a single job opportunity is provided for 33 applicants in Aden. The situation implies that the authority is expecting Taiz residents to take to streets in protests against the government like Aden's residents do in order to get equal treatment.
Hopes to get selected for a job vanish
In general, the number of job opportunities approved for all governorates neither matches with the high scores of job seekers nor meets demands of labor markets. There are large numbers of graduates, who observe official newspapers for years with the hope of seeing their names selected for the jobs.
According to Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Dr. Amatarrazaq Hummad, 54 percent of university graduates are jobless. And, as a reaction to such terrible unemployment rates, Deputy Prime Minister Abdulkarim Al-Arhabi, who is also Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, says that reducing the high unemployment rate in our country is a top priority the government plans to deal with during the coming time period.
We were surprised to hear Al-Arhabi saying “reducing unemployment”” not ending unemployment. He should have said the other wise as a kind of compliment to President of the Republic
