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I am very surprised to see this news. This brings to question whether the Saudis really win the oil price war?
Maybe the Saudis should start implementing birth control to curb the excessive population growth sapping its resources.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/fo...els-1932896314
Maybe the Saudis should start implementing birth control to curb the excessive population growth sapping its resources.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/fo...els-1932896314
Stranded workers in Saudi Arabia plead for help as economy falters
#SaudiStruggle
Foreign builders say they have not been paid for months and face possible imprisonment because company has not renewed permits
Rori Donaghy
Monday 22 August 2016 12:45 UTC
Workers at a construction company in Saudi Arabia have issued an urgent plea for help, saying they are trapped and facing starvation because their employer is refusing to pay salaries or grant them permission to leave the country.Foreign staff at building firm United Seemac told MEE the company's 500-plus employees have not been paid in months and that both the Saudi government and their embassies have done little to solve their increasingly desperate crisis.A database compiled by a Pakistani employee and seen by MEE revealed that workers have not been paid for a minimum of five months, while some have gone 19 months without receiving wages.
One Pakistani worker, who has not been paid in 10 months, said no one is helping them because they do not work for one of the kingdom’s larger companies.
“Nobody knows the situation for employees working at small companies,” said Mohammed Barr, who has been working as an engineer at the company for two years.
“All the attention is on the big companies – it’s easy to ignore us because we are not so many people."
Saudi Arabia is in financial crisis because of a collapse in oil revenues that account for 80 percent of government income. In 2015 the government posted a record $98bn budget deficit, causing many of the kingdom’s construction projects to be suspended or cancelled.
Big companies, including the Bin Ladin Group and Saudi Oger, have attracted significant media attention as tens of thousands of foreign workers were left destitute and stranded, unpaid for months before being laid off.
Officials from India, Pakistan and the Philippines – three countries that together have at least 30,000 citizens stranded in Saudi Arabia – have said they are working to solve problems faced by Bin Ladin and Oger employees, but workers at smaller firms including United Seemac say they are receiving little help.
“Bin Ladin and Oger have a lot of power, so that’s why the governments and embassies know about their workers,” Barr said. “We might only be 500 people but that is not all we are. Our families rely on our money, so this is a problem for 500 families.
“Nobody knows about companies like ours. Nobody wants to take any action to help us.”
United Seemac, a construction company that mostly does roadwork for the government, is based in Riyadh and has offices all over Saudi Arabia.
Its owner, Mohammed Owaideh, declined to answer any questions in several telephone calls with MEE.
However, the company’s general manager – known only as Abu Mohammed – told MEE that it is unable to pay employees because the government has failed to pay them for completed contract work.
“The government is not paying us,” he said via telephone from Riyadh. “When we get our money from the government we are going to give the people their money. One by one everyone will get paid.”
Abu Mohammed would not tell MEE how much money United Seemac is owed by the government or how much money is owed to employees, and said he “doesn’t know” when workers might receive their unpaid salaries.
United Seemac employee Barr, who compiled the database of unpaid salaries at the company, said it owes more than $2.4m to its staff.
Saudi authorities have repeatedly said they are trying to solve the problem of unpaid workers. King Salman has ordered companies including Saudi Oger to pay staff the money they are owed, although there has been little official comment about the issue of unpaid government contracts.
#SaudiStruggle
Foreign builders say they have not been paid for months and face possible imprisonment because company has not renewed permits
Rori Donaghy
Monday 22 August 2016 12:45 UTC
Workers at a construction company in Saudi Arabia have issued an urgent plea for help, saying they are trapped and facing starvation because their employer is refusing to pay salaries or grant them permission to leave the country.Foreign staff at building firm United Seemac told MEE the company's 500-plus employees have not been paid in months and that both the Saudi government and their embassies have done little to solve their increasingly desperate crisis.
One Pakistani worker, who has not been paid in 10 months, said no one is helping them because they do not work for one of the kingdom’s larger companies.
“Nobody knows the situation for employees working at small companies,” said Mohammed Barr, who has been working as an engineer at the company for two years.
“All the attention is on the big companies – it’s easy to ignore us because we are not so many people."
Saudi Arabia is in financial crisis because of a collapse in oil revenues that account for 80 percent of government income. In 2015 the government posted a record $98bn budget deficit, causing many of the kingdom’s construction projects to be suspended or cancelled.
Big companies, including the Bin Ladin Group and Saudi Oger, have attracted significant media attention as tens of thousands of foreign workers were left destitute and stranded, unpaid for months before being laid off.
Officials from India, Pakistan and the Philippines – three countries that together have at least 30,000 citizens stranded in Saudi Arabia – have said they are working to solve problems faced by Bin Ladin and Oger employees, but workers at smaller firms including United Seemac say they are receiving little help.
“Bin Ladin and Oger have a lot of power, so that’s why the governments and embassies know about their workers,” Barr said. “We might only be 500 people but that is not all we are. Our families rely on our money, so this is a problem for 500 families.
“Nobody knows about companies like ours. Nobody wants to take any action to help us.”
United Seemac, a construction company that mostly does roadwork for the government, is based in Riyadh and has offices all over Saudi Arabia.
Its owner, Mohammed Owaideh, declined to answer any questions in several telephone calls with MEE.
However, the company’s general manager – known only as Abu Mohammed – told MEE that it is unable to pay employees because the government has failed to pay them for completed contract work.
“The government is not paying us,” he said via telephone from Riyadh. “When we get our money from the government we are going to give the people their money. One by one everyone will get paid.”
Abu Mohammed would not tell MEE how much money United Seemac is owed by the government or how much money is owed to employees, and said he “doesn’t know” when workers might receive their unpaid salaries.
United Seemac employee Barr, who compiled the database of unpaid salaries at the company, said it owes more than $2.4m to its staff.
Saudi authorities have repeatedly said they are trying to solve the problem of unpaid workers. King Salman has ordered companies including Saudi Oger to pay staff the money they are owed, although there has been little official comment about the issue of unpaid government contracts.
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