MAKKAH, 28 February — Sixty-one Saudis and 29 expatriates have complained to the Makkah governorate of nonpayment of their wages totaling SR90,000 by their employer.
According to a report in Al-Madinah newspaper yesterday, the man who hired them for work during the Haj earned SR500,000 through his businesses and promised to pay them their dues on Dul Hijjah 11. He cashed his checks received from various firms and disappeared.
The employer has his own business and also runs four barbershops near Al-Jamrat area, according to Khalid Bakhash, one of the victims. He said the businessman hired them on condition that their wages would be paid after the Haj.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Haj has renewed its warning that contracts reached between local firms and pilgrims must be honored. The new warning follows a fight between an expatriate pilgrim and a firm owner that blocked traffic on the Mina Highway for quite some time, Al-Madinah said in another report.
The pilgrim was not satisfied with the services rendered by the firm during the Haj and had a fight with the firm owner. The report quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the expatriate and a bus driver were involved in fisticuffs with the firm owner. The situation calmed after police intervened.
