JEDDAH — The license of a general contracting company, which has not paid salaries to its workers involved in a Jubail project for the past six months, has been blocked by the Dammam labor office, according to the coordinator of the Indian Embassy help desk in Jubail. Saudi Gazette highlighted the plight of these workers whose iqamas have expired and have not been renewed. They want to go home, but the company is not clearing the dues of these workers who were subcontracted to a construction company for replacing air-conditioning units in a house project. Shamsudheen Chettippadi, working for the Indian Embassy help desk in Jubail, said that the Jubail labor office has transferred the case of these workers to its Dammam office. He said nine workers of this group had earlier filed a separate case in the labor office where a representative of the sponsor agreed to clear their dues within 10 days. These nine workers received their salaries this week, Shamsudheen said. He said 14 Indian workers in Al-Ahsa working for the same company filed a case in the labor office, and they received 60 percent of their dues. One of these workers died in June. His body is lying in the morgue awaiting repatriation. But the company cannot process the papers now that its license has been blocked, Shamsudheen said, adding that he has informed the Indian Embassy in Riyadh about the death of the worker.
