RIYADH: Several distressed local firms, including Saudi Binladin Group, have now started paying overdue wages, according to Mufrej Al-Haqabani, labor minister.

Saudi Binladin Group executives promised him that payments would be completed by September, he said.

Saudi Oger is the only company still broadly withholding payments, and the ministry will press foreigners' wage claims through the Kingdom's labor dispute system, Al-Haqbani said.

"Saudi Oger — now we'll take it to the courts. Now we are responsible for that. We've hired lawyers," he said. "As the ministry, we will go through the labor dispute courts to go after Saudi Oger and to collect the claims."

He also said the troubles at Oger were not a sign of problems with Saudi Arabia's overall employment of foreign workers, most of whom were choosing to remain in the country.

"This is a small segment...of the labor market. We have more than 10 million expats working happily here in the country. When a company like Saudi Oger fails to comply with the rules, this will never destroy the good image of our labor market."

A number of workers in labor camps waiting for their dues to be settled have decided not to leave until their cases are cleared. They say they fear that if they leave they will end up with nothing at all.

"We will wait here — one year, two years. We will wait for our money. Then we will go back," said Sardar Naseer, 35, a Pakistani welder at the Qadisiya Labour Camp, which houses around 2,000 workers from Oger.

Naseer says he is owed SR22,000 after receiving no wages for eight months. Workers at the camp, about 20 km from the centre of Riyadh, said they had stopped work about four months ago and none had been paid since January.

The Labor Ministry, along with embassies, is taking care of basic services at the camp said.

Two weeks ago, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman set aside SR100 million to help the stranded workers, mostly from Pakistan, India, the Philippines and Bangladesh.