Staff at Bahrain's oldest think-tank fear for their futures, with no word on their jobs despite the facility being wound up next month.

The Bahrain Centre for Studies and Research (BCSR) in Awali is being shut down - closing the book on its 29-year history.

However, staff still don't know if they will have a job once the facility is closed for good.

BCSR secretary-general Dr Abdulla Al Sadiq yesterday confirmed the centre would be closing in the coming weeks, but said he had no information on the reasons behind the decision.

He also said he did not know what lay in store for the people who worked there.

'I am not in a position to say anymore,' he told our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News (GDN).

'I don't have any information about what's happening to the jobs or anything else.'

One employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said there was no word on whether they would be found work at the new Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies, which is now being formed.

'There are two committees from the government,' explained the employee.

'The first one is organising the dissolving of the BCSR and all the money and physical issues involved.

'The second one is focusing on finding other job opportunities for the current BCSR staff.

'The BCSR will be closed as soon as all the necessary work is done and this is expected to be in the middle of July.

'Unfortunately for the staff, we still do not know what is going to happen.'

He also claimed the committee formed to find BCSR staff new jobs had still not been in touch.

'The committee set up to look for other job opportunities is supposed to be communicating with the staff, but so far we have not heard from them,' he said.

'It has been said that some people will be moved to different government departments and organisations and that some will work in the new centre, but nobody knows.'

The BCSR, which was formed in 1981, is being dissolved under a Royal Decree issued earlier this year.

Arabic newspaper reports have suggested the BCSR was closing to make way for the new think-tank.

However, Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies chairman Dr Mohammad Abdul Ghaffar denied the reports and said the new facility was an entirely separate operation.

'The Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies is a completely new and separate thing,' said Dr Abdul Ghaffar, a former Information Minister and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

As a result, he said he could not comment on the closure of the BCSR.

However, he did say the new centre would be opening in the next few months in response to the global political climate, which meant research into strategic, international and energy issues was crucial.

'We have not finalised a location for the new centre, but we hope it will be up and running in the next two to three months,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service