Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Saudi Binladin Group started paying the delayed salaries to thousands of its employees after they were fired because of budget constraints, said company spokesman Yaseen Al-Attas. "A royal decree was announced last week stating that the company may operate again and start handling projects. The travel ban on the company's executive directors was lifted. The Ministry of Labor and Social Development is cooperating with the company to pay the rightful salaries to the employees," he said. The company has paid salaries to 10,000 employees, he said, adding that the rest of the fired employees will also get their salaries. "The company is slowly regaining its momentum now that it is operating again," said Al-Attas. Al-Attas said the government has made a commitment to pay the contractors, "including us." He did not specify how many other staff still need to be paid but said those fired — about 69,000 foreigners — were only a fraction of the manpower at the Group which built some of the Kingdom's landmarks. Of those 69,000, he said about 34,000 have received salaries and been repatriated. Roughly 20,000 others have transferred to other employers or resigned, and close to 15,000 are "under processing." Alattas confirmed that the sanction has now been lifted and that the Saudi Binladin Group will again be able to bid for government projects. But he said the suspension, in any case, had not affected the company's existing projects. There were "multiple reasons" for the wage delays but one was related to "cash flow," he said. Egyptians accounted for a large percentage of Binladin Group employees. Last week, Labor and Social Development Minister Mufarrej Al-Haqbani vowed to ensure that the Binladin Group keeps a pledge to resolve wage issues. "The company promised to solve all the issues related to the wages," he told reporters. Staff at another Saudi construction giant, Saudi Oger Ltd, have also complained of unpaid wages. Haqbani insisted the problem was not widespread. "We still have many expats coming to the country. Two cases will never be able to represent the situation of the labour market in Saudi Arabia," he said.
