Desperate expatriate construction workers who had been struggling in their labour camp for the past 10 days without electricity and water reached out to the Labour Ministry yesterday seeking immediate assistance.
Around 60 men from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh gathered at the ministry’s complex in Zayed Town, claiming that they have not been paid for nearly a year.
They met with senior officials, who promised them a ‘feasible solution’ as soon as possible, including the reconnection of power to their living and sleeping quarters.
“We’re aware of the situation and have already spoken with the employer,” Labour Ministry assistant under-secretary Ahmed Al Hayki told the GDN.
“The employer is involved in legal issues and the court has agreed to release the funds for salaries – the men will receive three months’ pay next week.
“A labour inspector will also visit the camp and make certain that power is restored.”
The men, mostly long-term employees of a construction company established in 1960, said they did not start complaining about non-payment of wages until earlier this month because they were hopeful that the financial issues the business was facing would be resolved.
“We know there are financial issues, and we don’t want to complain about the company – most of us have been here for a long time and remain loyal employees – so we hoped that issue would be resolved and we would eventually be paid,” said an Indian worker. “However, the power was suddenly disconnected 10 days ago, so we had no choice but to go to the labour ministry for help.”
The men have also made representations to their embassies in the country, as well as complaints to the Labour Market Regulatory Authority, the Labour Ministry and reported the situation to Budaiya police station.
“On Sunday the manager gave us BD20 to get diesel for a hired generator, which did not last for more than a day and the power was only available in three rooms,” added the worker. “We are still finding it growingly difficult to survive without any money.
“We are being supported by social workers and charity organisations who gave us dry rations, but how do we cook it without electricity or gas? This is not a long-term solution.
“To make matters worse we are worried about our loved ones and it’s preying on our minds. We have families back home who are starving and depended on us sending them money.”
The men include drivers, carpenters, plumbers and other tradesmen, alongside labourers, ranging in age from 38 to 56 and earn monthly salaries of between BD80 and BD110.
“We want to go home but we need to get our pending salaries and other settlements, including air tickets – some of us have been here for up to 18 years,” a Bangladeshi worker added.
To rub salt into their wounds, the men claimed free visa workers were being taken on to carry out smaller tasks as they ‘sit here with nothing to do’.
A Bahraini company representative claimed that legal wrangling and government agency miscommunication had caused recent challenges, such as not being informed in advance that the power was going to be switched off.
She stated that a court order was required to unfreeze the company accounts in order for any payments to be released.
“We have court approval on the salaries, but we are still waiting for the authorities to unfreeze our accounts so that we can make the Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) payment,” she explained.
“We have also informed the Labour Ministry and we have requested a month to settle the pending wages issue.
“In terms of electricity and water, the authority disconnected the power without informing us. We were asked to pay BD3,000 to replace the old system but our accounts were blocked, so we couldn’t make any payments,” she added.
The woman admitted that the company was facing financial challenges but it had no intention of leaving its employees in the lurch.
“It’s unfortunate that we have financial issues, and we’ve met with several officials,” she added. “We could file for bankruptcy but we don’t want to do that because we want to pay our employees.”
raji@gdnmedia.bh
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