Saudi Oger unlikely to pay Bangladesh workers soon

Officials at the Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh yesterday said there is no immediate possibility that more than 1,500 Bangladeshi migrants, who are working for Saudi Oger, a leading construction company, will get their arrears anytime soon.

"The Saudi king has already ordered the labour ministry to resolve the problems of the workers. But the solution may take time. We are now visiting labour camps to prepare database of Bangladesh workers," Sarwar Alam, labour counsellor at the embassy, told The Daily Star over phone.

The Bangladeshis have reportedly been suffering a shortage of food, as the company has not been paying its workers' wages for six to seven months. It was also reported that the company was firing its employees.

Sarwar, however, said there was no food shortage for the Bangladeshis.

Early this month, the Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani workers at the company had faced difficulties in getting food due to a sudden closure of food supply by a catering service provider.

However, two groups of the embassy yesterday started preparing database of the Bangladeshi workers and knowing their problems after visiting the labour camps.

They are preparing the database to know who want to return home, who want to switch jobs and who want to stay at the company, said Sarwar.

The process is taking time as many Bangladeshis are not responding, he added.

The company's workers are facing multiple difficulties as some of its projects were cancelled due to a financial crisis, he mentioned without elaborating it.

The news of the Bangladeshis' sufferings came to light early this month when some Indian media outlets reported that around 10,000 Indian employees at the construction firm were suffering a tremendous food shortage.

Like other oil-rich Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia depends on Asian migrant workers mainly from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India.

Around 1.5 million Bangladeshis are working in different sectors in the country.