MORE than 30 expatriate labourers have filed a complaint over non-payment of wages for months, with one of them claiming that they have been “barely surviving on bread and water” after working for almost 12 hours a day.
The desperate Cameroonians – employees of Professional Touch for Services – approached the Labour and Social Development Ministry on Tuesday after waking up to a shocking crime in their labour camp in Ma’meer.
Surviving
The GDN reported that a man allegedly stabbed his colleague to death and injured another just hours after arriving at the accommodation.
The case is being investigated.
The deceased has been identified as Sylvanus Sakwe Nanje, 26 while the injured, Nicodemus Mofor, 26, is recovering at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC).
The GDN visited the accommodation on the day of the incident, when the workers pleaded for help. Some claimed that they had not been paid for three months while a few others said they were owed wages for a month or two.
“Most of us are surviving on just bread and water,” one of them said.
The men also expressed concern over ‘unhygienic living conditions’.
An official at the Labour and Social Development Ministry confirmed that ‘the case is being looked into’.
The GDN reported last year that the government had issued strict guidelines for labour accommodations following the outbreak of Covid-19.
Owners of camps were told to reduce the number of workers in each room so that they could maintain a distance of at least two metres between them.
However, the GDN witnessed appalling conditions at the camp with eight workers or more sharing a room. The kitchen was dirty and the toilets clogged.
The men claimed that the rooms had not been disinfected for months, despite guidelines on periodic sanitisation to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Around eight men had left the camp – a two-storeyed building – on Tuesday night as they found it difficult to stay there after the horrific incident.
“Two men wiped off blood on the floor, but the place still stinks and needs to be cleaned properly before we can sleep there,” said a worker who requested anonymity.
The place houses around 80 Cameroonian men and almost all of them are allegedly owed salaries for one to three months. Most of them have been in the company for less than a year.
“We are living in unhygienic conditions – we are eight people in a room – in some rooms there are more – while there are only six beds,” said a worker.
“With the Covid-19 conditions, we are unable to leave.
“Some of us have paid up to 20 million CFA franc (BD14,000) for this job and our contracts said ‘excellent living conditions’.”
Another worker said their payment requests had been turned down.
“Our families’ survival depends on us,” he added.
“There is no money to buy food and some of our countrymen who visited us helped us with some bread – but how long can we survive like this?”
Grievances
A total of 34 employees went to the Labour Ministry and were asked to fill a form with their grievances.
“We have given that to an official – we don’t know who it is though,” another worker said.
Meanwhile, the company owner, who only identified himself as Hashim, denied their claims and said Covid-19 protocols were being followed at the camp.
“We do not have extra employees inside,” he told the GDN.
“The company had provided a cleaner and all items for disinfection and as per Health Ministry rules, we don’t have any positive (Covid-19) case yet.”
The Arab national also denied wages were pending for employees.
“My employees are paid on the 15th, which happened to be a holiday this month,” he told the GDN.
“This means they should get paid on the 18th and unfortunately the incident happened on that day.
“Our working hours are normal and the company has provided all required items for cooking, while it has also arranged for food from a restaurant and a cold store nearby, if needed.
“This is registered as a labour accommodation and we have all approvals from the ministry.”
However, an employee last night told the GDN that they were yet to receive wages.
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