“The delay in the disbursement of salaries was due to reasons beyond the control of the municipality,” Director of Human Resources Samir Hussein told Arab News, adding that the remaining employees would be paid shortly.
He said the signing of contracts with the employees is currently underway. Denying rumors that some of the workers received threats of dismissal, Hussein said the employees would receive better salaries, allowances and other claims.
Stressing the municipality’s desire to improve the working conditions of employees, Tariq Jamal, director of financial and administrative matters at the municipality, said, “The municipality has started working on improving the conditions of the employees and regularizing their status with official contracts besides nationalizing their jobs. The municipality has already started signing contracts with the workers in Abraq Al-Raghama.” Last week, employees of the program protested the delay in the payment of their salaries in a meeting and threatened to go on strike. They demanded better behavior from their non-Saudi superiors and also complained that their higher officials refused their demands and did not give any consideration to the fact that they were working in extremely hazardous circumstances when dealing with poisonous pesticides. They said the machines supplied to them are damaged and leak, something that is a risk to their health.
