ASSETS of a company at the centre of a major pay row since 2017 are being auctioned, it has emerged.
Hundreds of employees of G P Zachariades (GPZ) Civil Engineering and Contractors, ranging from senior management to labourers, have been waiting for their wages while a number of protests have been staged in the last two years.
In a notice published in the Arabic Press on Friday, the Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry invited bids for the assets of GPZ stored at its Sitra warehouse.
Overdue
The sale of items including construction devices, machinery and equipment will be held on September 16 at 9am at the executive court.
Labour and Social Development Ministry Under-Secretary Sabah Al Doseri said the action followed the landlord of the warehouse suing the company over overdue rent.
The GDN earlier cited well-placed sources as saying that police had sealed the company’s warehouse in Sitra after the management reportedly sold 80 per cent of the machinery despite being asked not to.
“Yes, the Justice Ministry has announced the auction of the assets of the company in its warehouses after the landlord sued the company for unpaid rent,” Mr Al Doseri told the GDN yesterday.
“Two weeks ago we repatriated around 200 workers, who were without jobs and were waiting for their dues to go back home, after some amount was credited into the joint account of the ministry and the company.
“With this we have settled almost all of the workers’ dues who were not working and wanted to go back.
“Now, the remaining claims will have to be dealt with legally.”
A ministry representative handling the auction told the GDN that the warehouse in Sitra was open to the public to view the items that will go under the hammer.
The auction notice in an Arabic newspaper
The GDN reported in March that the employees were living in fear of arrest and deportation after some of them were detained and sent home because they were picked up without legal residency documents.
On March 17, Shura Council member Mona Almoayyed proposed freezing the activities of companies like GPZ until they pay staff wages on time. The GDN reported in June that nearly 250 GPZ workers were evicted from their labour camp in Nuwaidrat, leaving the men on the streets for almost 24 hours.
They were escorted out of the labour camp by the police after the landlord won a court case against the company for overdue rent.
The landlord of GPZ’s head office in Budaiya had also confirmed to the GDN then that he had filed a court case seeking to evict the firm over unpaid rent totalling over BD200,000.
GPZ has repeatedly blamed late salaries on delays in receiving payment for work it has carried out.
Meanwhile, Fadhal Sawad who is liaising between the company and the landlord told the GDN that talks were underway to settle the matter amicably.
“We hope the matter will be settled between the two without an auction, and hopefully the assets worth between BD70,000 and BD80,000 will settle the dues.”
GPZ officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.
raji@gdn.com.bh
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