Pakistani workers need help
Published: Apr 20, 2010 23:12 Updated: Apr 20, 2010 23:12
JEDDAH: The situation of four Pakistani workers who have not been paid their salary while working for a Saudi company and are now without their iqamas (work permits) remains unresolved.
Muhammad Aslam, Waris Hussain, Abdul Aziz Shakir and Khaled Parvez are still stranded at the closed factory in Jeddah's Ghulail district with no electricity and no money. To make matters worse, their health has started deteriorating. “This week a representative from the Saudi Industrial Development Fund is expected to visit the factory,” Shakir, a mechanic, told Arab News.
“After a few years of being on sale the factory has been sold to a Saudi investor who is expected to take over the operation of the factory and its expenses. We think we might have a slight chance of getting the money we have been owed for so many years.”
The workers' problems started when the factory's owner died over 11 years ago.
The ownership was handed over to son Walid Ezzi, who had left Jeddah to live in the Eastern Province. However, he bailed on the workers and left them stranded, penniless and with no electricity inside the factory.
Ezzi told Arab News previously that he is also broke and cannot provide for any of the workers. “The Saudi Industrial Development Fund is going to auction off the factory within 60 days. However, the factory's outstanding debts of almost SR20 million is scaring people off,” he said.
Shakir added the workers have not received their salary for many years and written countless letters to the Labor Office in Jeddah.
“We're old people and cannot support our families in Pakistan. We are under great stress and are worried for our children, who were forced out of school because we could not pay the fees. Our daughters can't get married because they need money. We just want the authorities to do their best to give us our financial rights so we can go back home.” he said.
