February 27, 2002. Keralamonitor.com
Indian Worker of MRP commits suicide
Another Construction worker commits suicide in Bahla near Nizwa.
Two Indian workers (one Malayali, one from Andhra) have committed suicide in Oman due to labour problems. Twenty five year old Jog Rao from Andhra Pradesh, an employee of MRP ( Mohammed Al Ruzaikhy and Partners Trading and Contracting), Ghala owned by a leading Malayali business family has reportedly committed suicide on February 25, 2002 due to unknown reasons. More
Worker Die in Depression as Company Owners delay and deny Salary for Months
MUSCAT - Fifty years old Rajendran Pillai (from Kottiyam in Kollam Kerala) had a tragic end while sleeping in a make to shift labour camp of Bogest Company in the Ghala Industrial area, Oman. The worker died after serving a company as a mason for nine long years. The death is assumed to be due to a heart attack while he was in deep sleep. Three other workers were also sleeping in the same room. ""Rajendran died sometimes in the night after he went to sleep with mental depression.He has hree girls, two of them married off with the money earned in Gulf," said one of his co-workers.
"Nobody noticed his last breath and the death was noticed only in the morning when one of his colleagues tried to wake him up. As there is no work, we thought he is sleeping. Pillai was tense after receiving a letter from his wife in Kerala," said one of his colleagues. About 260 workers of the company are not paid salary for at least six months. Labourers said they could not go home for several years due to non-payment of salary and lack of proper visa or labour card. An inhuman labour policy adopted by a prestigious firm is making life difficult for the workers. "Rajendran came back from leave recently and there is no payment pending. He died of heart attack while sleeping," said a company official, when contacted by KM.
Apparently Pillai -like all other 200 odd workers- was suffering from deep mental tension as he was unable to repay the loans taken for his second daughter's marriage," added workers in Bogest Company, a prestigious name in the construction field managed by well known VIP businessmen. "He had borrowed Rs.75,000 in Kerala to finance his second daughters marriage. He could not send much money or attend the marriage. Pillai was tense after receiving a letter from his family," said his colleagues. He had even pledged his property to get loans, added workers.
Rajendran Pillai's tragic death is the latest black mark on Oman's construction sector, which follows a hostile and inhuman labour policy. Several companies managed by even well known Omani and Indian businessman are notorious for either delaying or denying wages. In a region where workers are treated more like slaves than human beings, the death of Mr.Pillai or any other expatriate workers normally go unnoticed by the local authorities, the media, company management and the Indian Embassy. "Our salary is delayed for the last six months to two years. Workers fear that their fate will not be different from that of Mr. Pillai, because they face similar difficulties.
In a complaint addressed to Indian authorites, the Bogest workers alleged that they are unable to go back because the company does not provided labour card, visa or other valid travel documents. They alleged that the company is deliberately harassing Indian workers to put pressure on the Omani government and get some pending payment from various ministries. Workers alleged that the Indian Embassy officials in Muscat are siding with the company officials. They seem to be in a hurry to settle the pending payment in a manner favourable to the company. "One Malayali official in the Indian Embassy insists that the workers take 60 per cent payment and leave the balance money to the company!
"Even when some of our relatives died, the company did not send workers home," the complaint said. "How can I accept 60 per cent of my pending salary and go home. It is the money due to me in lieu of working long hours in the torching heat for several months and years. For the Indian Ambassador or his employees, it is easy to ask us to forget 40 per cent payment in favour of the company. But for an ordinary worker, it amounts to leaving half of his life savings in the Arabian desert," said one of the workers.
They alleged that the Indian embassy never consulted workers before reaching an understanding with the management for sixty per cent settlement. It is high time that the Omani Government should deal with the problem as a humanitarian issue as many big and small construction companies are working jointly to exert pressure on the government by making the workers scapegoats. The Indian Embassy is not concerned about the dubious role of Indian managers in delaying workers due. The carefully worded public statements of the Indian Ambassador Talmiz Ahmed is silent about the role of Indians who are running construction companies in delaying workers payment. Many of the so-called blacklisted companies are run/managed by leading Indian managers.
Sixty Workers Accommodated in a New Posh Villa
MUSCAT - Sixty Workers of Socet Muscat, a group company of Zubair Enterprises, had a sigh of relief when the management offered them a new accommodation with sufficient toilet facilities following a report in keralamonitor.com about their plight. It may be recalled that the Zubair group Company used to huddle sixty workers in a single villa in the Wattaya area. Workers could not attend to call of nature or pass urine peacefully. Keralamonitor.com is still a small medium, but some of our stories are yielding the desired results. That is the greatest recognition. Our journalist friends in the local media shut their eyes and ears towards the grave problems facing the man on street. Thank you Omanforum.com for starting a healthy discussion on the topic- Editor.
Striking Salalah Workers Forcibly Removed from Indian Embassy Premises
Similarly fifty years old Gopala Pillai, another worker of United Contracting Company, Salalah died of cancer in Kerala ten days after he was send home for further treatment. The Sultan Qaboos Hospital diagnosed his disease and recommended further treatment in Kerala. However, the United Contractors was reluctant to send him for treatment as the Indian "manager" and Omani owner considered the diseases theory as "yet another pretext to go home"! Well the Indian worker died ten days after reaching Kerala and his salary is still pending with United Contracting company owned by a big Omani businessman. His hospital bill was paid from his pending salary! Venu Attingal from Trivandrum, like his colleagues, has worked fifteen years had his last vacation four years back.
"My dear father. My mother expired on 30 June 2003. So please come soon. There are lot of problems," wrote Laxman, the young son of an employee of United Contracting Company of Salalah owned by the member of a prestigious Omani family in Dhofar. The local police have forcibly removed around 40 workers of the company who are living in front of the Indian Embassy Muscat. They are apparently public nuisance to the embassy and local authorities. However, the local authorities are not keenly implementing court directives issued against the Omani owner of the construction company. "There is no labour card of visa for the last three years. The company gives fake labour card. Workers are ready to go to the prison because they expect two meals and decent stay inside the jail," said one of them. Abdullah Al Rawas, the company owner is allegedly treating Indian workers like slaves and do not follow court directives to pay workers pending salary. It is a shame that a prestigious family of a great country like the Al Rawas are treating Indian workers like slaves!
Starting from the head of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) to Oman's former minister of Information hail from this great family. "for the last ten months there is no salary. There is no electricity or water in the workers camp. We are living with candles for the last two years. Apparently the company has enough projects and one Indian manager - Ansari Yadav - is mainly instrumental in harassing innocent workers, they alleged. Any fax or communication from the Indian Embassy Muscat, 1000 kms away from Salalah, is not respected. Even though many workers got favourable verdict from the labour court the Omani owner is not keen to obey it. In order to circumvent the court verdicts, the company has changed its name from United contracting to Autorepairing. While the company owner is living in a posh villa in the VIP area of Salalah, where most of the elite families reside, workers are living in front of the Indian Embassy, spreading their torn clothes and packets in front of the Indian Embassy.
No one to raise workers problem in Parliament now?
Workers of MRB resorted to street demonstration in protest against non- payment of salary for a few months. Last year the leading Kerala politician and Member of Parliament, E Ahmed raised a hue and cry about workers problem in Oman. Now everyone seems to be silent? Is it because they don't want to put pressure on the new Ambassador?
