AFP, Riyadh :
He’s had no salary for six months, he cannot pay his children’s school fees and his permit to reside in Saudi Arabia has expired.
But Robert still holds out hope that things might improve for him and thousands of other workers at Saudi Oger Ltd, the once-mighty construction giant led by Lebanon’s billionaire former prime minister Saad Hariri.
Delayed receipts from a Saudi government whose oil revenues collapsed over the past two years have left employees of the company struggling to survive while they wait to be paid, Robert and other sources say.
Other contractors are also affected, but sources say problems at the 38-year-old Saudi Oger go deeper than the kingdom’s current economic strains.
“Already when I worked at Saudi Oger there were delays in salary payments to local employees,” a former staffer told AFP.
“It seems the situation got worse.”
Saudi Oger employs around 50,000 people of various nationalities, from managers to labourers, and Robert said the salaries of nearly all have been delayed.
But at six months without a pay cheque, he is among the longest-suffering. “I don’t have money,” he said. “It’s hard.” The veteran employee of Saudi Oger says he has “no choice” but to stay with the firm because he cannot find another job.
Robert, whose name has been changed because he asked for anonymity, said the company promised in a letter that salaries will flow at the end of March.
“It’s a desperate situation,” a well-informed source said, describing expatriate families facing a similar plight to Robert’s.
“They can’t pay for the tickets” to even fly home, the source said, adding that many senior officers of Saudi Oger support families in Lebanon, meaning remittances to that country will be affected.
He’s had no salary for six months, he cannot pay his children’s school fees and his permit to reside in Saudi Arabia has expired.
But Robert still holds out hope that things might improve for him and thousands of other workers at Saudi Oger Ltd, the once-mighty construction giant led by Lebanon’s billionaire former prime minister Saad Hariri.
Delayed receipts from a Saudi government whose oil revenues collapsed over the past two years have left employees of the company struggling to survive while they wait to be paid, Robert and other sources say.
Other contractors are also affected, but sources say problems at the 38-year-old Saudi Oger go deeper than the kingdom’s current economic strains.
“Already when I worked at Saudi Oger there were delays in salary payments to local employees,” a former staffer told AFP.
“It seems the situation got worse.”
Saudi Oger employs around 50,000 people of various nationalities, from managers to labourers, and Robert said the salaries of nearly all have been delayed.
But at six months without a pay cheque, he is among the longest-suffering. “I don’t have money,” he said. “It’s hard.” The veteran employee of Saudi Oger says he has “no choice” but to stay with the firm because he cannot find another job.
Robert, whose name has been changed because he asked for anonymity, said the company promised in a letter that salaries will flow at the end of March.
“It’s a desperate situation,” a well-informed source said, describing expatriate families facing a similar plight to Robert’s.
“They can’t pay for the tickets” to even fly home, the source said, adding that many senior officers of Saudi Oger support families in Lebanon, meaning remittances to that country will be affected.
