At your service, madam

YOU won't find many female private taxi drivers in Bahrain but at Bahrain Limo there are four.

They are professional, prompt, friendly and ready to take passengers - as long as they are female - to any destination they seek.

Thirty-five-year-old Bahraini Fatima Mohammed Abdulla joined Bahrain Limo two years ago.

"I chose to be a taxi driver because I love driving," explained the mother of two. "I was a housewife before taking the job and since everyone in my family knew about my passion for driving, they made me do all their outdoor chores that required a car.

"I am a good driver, I follow traffic rules, I've never had an accident and I love my job. It is a bit tiring, but it's an interesting job where you get to meet different people.

"There is nothing wrong with working as a taxi driver. It is an honest job which helps me and my children have a better living standard."

In order to work for the company, drivers have to have at least five years of driving experience and no accidents, and, like their male counterparts work eight hour shifts six days a week.

The company's female drivers are frequently requested and their customers appreciate their services.

"There are women who specifically request female drivers because they feel safer with us," explained Fatima. "All my customers appreciate the fact that there are females working as taxi drivers and appraise our courage and determination to enter a different work field in Bahrain."

Despite only catering to females and couples, occasionally bookings are made for male passengers.

"That can happen when a lady customer calls to book a car for her husband or brother and she leaves her name as a contact person, and the person who receives the call in the company registers it under a female name," said Fatima.

"In cases like that we immediately call the company and ask them what to do, and, if we get an approval we take the request."

One of Fatima's colleagues is 30-year-old Moroccan Laila Ait Taleb, who has been living in Bahrain for the past eight years.

"I am very happy with my job," explained Laila. "We cater to women customers because there are men who would not like their wives to sit in a car with a male driver - a stranger, so he would ask for us to come instead, and, in other cases the ladies themselves ask for us because they want to feel comfortable.

"We hardly have any problems with our customers ... they are nice and friendly and appreciate what we do, especially if we drive them to where they want to go on time and with no delays."

However, Laila said that Bahrain's infamous traffic jams make the job tiring.

"We all know how bad the traffic is in Bahrain, so driving from one destination to another all day long gets a bet hectic and tiring, but that is the case with all of jobs ... there are always ups and downs," she said.

But she said that the satisfaction she gains from her job and the pleasantly surprised customers more than make up for it.

"I had a customer who has so happy when I went to get her ... she loved the idea of women working as taxi drivers," she said.