The Saudi government has decided to pay for transferring laborers from one contractor to another. Not all workers, of course, but only those who work for contractors that couldn’t finish huge projects on time.
The new regulation states that if the first contractor fails to deliver a project on time, the government is authorized to move the project to another contractor, along with the workforce of the first contractor. So, any worker who wishes to stay will benefit from a free iqama transfer and a new contract with the second contractor.
Now, I see this procedure as a smart step. It is not just that the workers will survive the victim zone, but no contractor wants to lose his team members. I see it this way: Big contractors who lose hundreds of workers will never be able to bring them back. They will waste years before they can re-build this huge manpower. So, finishing the project on time will become a must. Otherwise, loss is just around the corner!
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The writer is Media Manager, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. Twitter: @abdullahsayel
Email: [email protected]
