THESE 23 Bangladeshi conservancy workers have still not been paid by their employer.

This despite the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) ordering Harvest Integrated Services to pay them by 30May.

The company has settled the pay dispute with only 45 of the 68 men who complained.

All of them walked out on their jobs in February after they were not paid for months.

It still owes the remaining 23, who have not been working for the past five months, about $110,700 in total.

Worse still, 10 of them got a shock when they were told on Monday by MOM that their Special Passes would not be extended.

Their passes were to expire yesterday.

But The New Paper understands that late yesterday, these 10 workers were given a reprieve for two weeks to look for jobs.

PASSES EXTENDED

The remaining 13 already had their passes extended till Monday as they are assisting in investigations.

Mr Jahangir Alam Monir Hossain, 28, whose pass was not initially renewed, said they had been instructed by MOM to provide their bank details in Bangladesh to facilitate a telegraphic transfer should their employer finally pay up.

But most of them do not have bank accounts there, claimed Mr Jahangir.

Another worker, Mr Mizanur Rahman Abdul Aziz, 29, said he was uneasy about the arrangement.

He said in halting English: 'We haven't got our money after waiting here for five months. Do you think we will see our money if we go back home?'

The workers are still in a bind, as each claimed to have paid about $10,000 to agents to find work here.

Said Mr Jahangir: 'We had to borrow money from our family and relatives, and some of us even sold our land.

'I haven't even paid back some of the money.'

They were paid a basic salary of $550 to clean HDB blocks in areas such as Clementi, Ang Mo Kio, Sengkang, Boon Lay and Woodlands.

NOWHERE TO STAY

With nowhere to stay, the men have been putting up separately with their brothers, cousins or fellow countrymen.

Many have also had to borrow money.

Mr Jahangir, who is owed the most money, said they have had to keep going to MOM to extend their Special Passes.

He claimed that their employer had offered to settle for lesser amounts, but the men were not willing.

Now, they cannot even get in touch with their employer, he said.

When The New Paper tried to contact the company on the listed number, the call didn't go through.

Mr Jahangir said their families back home are suffering too as they are unable to send them any money.

Mr Suruz Ali Hazrat Ali, 31, who is married with two young children and who also supports his parents, said: 'They keep asking me whether I can send money, but I tell them I have problems here.

'They also say 'Why can't you settle the problem?' But I don't know what to tell them.'

APPROPRIATE ACTION

When contacted on Wednesday, an MOM spokesman confirmed that the employer had not satisfied the Labour Court order.

Said the spokesman: 'The Ministry will take appropriate action against the employer following the investigation.'

Mr Jolovan Wham, the executive director of welfare group Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, is helping the men look for jobs and hopes that employers will step forward and take them in.

Mr Wham said the workers are the ones who suffer the most when companies default on payment or go bankrupt.

'Not only do they lose the salaries that are owed to them, they also return to their countries penniless and in debt.

'More should be done to facilitate a change of employer for such workers,' he added.

This article was first published in The New Paper on July 11, 2008.