Labor and Social Development Minister Mufrej Al-Haqabani

Labor and Social Development Minister Mufrej Al-Haqabani has said that a number of local firms, including Saudi Binladin Group, have now started paying their workers’ pending salaries.

The minister was quoted as saying that the Saudi Binladin Group will completely clear the financial dues of its workers by the end of next month.

Al-Haqabani said that only one company (Saudi Oger) is withholding payments and that the ministry will press the expats’ salary issue through the Wage Protection System.

A top labor official, meanwhile, told Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Pir Syed Sadaruddin Shah Rashidi that Saudi Oger has agreed to deliver the passports of Pakistani workers and sort out their unpaid salary issue.

The remarks by Abdullah Al-Olayan, director general of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development branch in Makkah, follow his recent talks with the Pakistani delegation led by Rashidi and Pakistan’s ambassador.

Al-Olayan also said he discussed the unpaid salary issue with Saudi Oger officials in a bid to reach a speedy solution to the crisis. Al-Olayan urged Pakistani workers to entrust the country’s embassy with following up on their cases.

The Pakistani workers have the option whether to stay in the Kingdom by changing the sponsorship to another employer or leave the country with the Labor Ministry paying for all travel expenses, to be deducted later from their overdue salaries.

Related articles across the web

• Saudi Arabia tries 14 over deadly Makkah crane crash
• Saudi Arabia tries 14 over deadly Makkah crane crash
• Out of work across the sea
• Fourteen on trial in Saudi Arabia for Mecca crane collapse that killed 111
• Saudi Employer Owes Guest Workers Nearly $1 Billion in Back Pay
• Saudi Employer Owes Guest Workers Nearly $1 Billion in Back Pay
• Saudi Arabia: Abandoned in desert camps, migrant workers won't leave without pay
• Abandoned in Saudi desert camps, migrant workers won't leave without pay
• Immigrant workers in Saudi Arabia starving
• Top Indian official in Saudi Arabia to help stranded workers