JEDDAH — Some 45 Indian workers are languishing in a squalid labor camp in Raheli on the outskirts of Jeddah for the past few months as the contracting company which brought them here lent them to a construction firm which has not paid them salaries after July. These workers lodged a complaint with the labor court, which resulted in the final exit of seven of their coworkers. The remaining workers, who are without iqamas (residence permits) want to go on final exit but are caught between their sponsor company and the one for which they were involved in a construction project. “I want to send them on final exit, and want to make final settlements,” the owner of the Dammam-based Sejong Saudi (Korean) Contracting Construction Company which brought these workers here, told Saudi Gazette. However, the alleged handler of these workers in Jeddah, who is the project engineer of the construction company, denied that he has anything to do with the problem. Indian Consul General B.S. Mubarak said that the consulate has been consistently helping the distressed workers and assisting them in the labor court. “We are in touch with the workers and the company. Recently we arranged a canteen near their camp to provide them food,” he said. On Oct. 21, Vice Consul (Labor) Anup Singh and official Mohammad Iqbal K. P. visited the labor camp to meet these workers. Their sponsor company is in the red Nitaqat zone, so they have not been able to get iqamas for these workers, according to sources.
