By Tan May Ping

ANOTHER group of Bangladeshi workers are claiming they were not given regular work or pay since coming to Singapore six months ago.

But Gates Offshore, which currently manages the employees, claims though they are being sent back, they have been paid salaries.

There were originally about 130 workers who were employees of PA Services, but some of them have since returned home.

Mr Md Jahangir Md Emarot Sikder, 24, who arrived last August, said through a translator that he had not been given any work by PA Services.

But The New Paper was not able to contact PA Services.

'Every time we asked for work, they said they would give, but they never did. They also threatened to send us back,' he added.

He claimed that some workers were occasionally farmed out to work for other companies, but they didn't get paid too.

They were housed in a dormitory in Woodlands Industrial Park for the first two months before they were told to leave when their employer didn't pay the rent.

With nowhere to stay, they slept on sidewalks and grass patches for about a month, claimed Mr Md Jahangir.

They also could not find their employer, he claimed.

About 36 of them among the 130 workers then lodged complaints with the Bangladesh High Commission and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in October.

Taken over

Shortly after, a director of ship repair firm Gates Offshore - which is being investigated separately by the MOM - took over management of the PA Services workers.

He moved them to a dormitory in Tagore Industrial Avenue, where Gates Offshore and Goldrich Venture workers are also housed, in November.

'(The director) assured our High Commission that he had enough jobs for us and he would pay us,' said Mr Md Jahangir.

He produced a copy of a letter signed by the director and addressed to the High Commission promising work for the workers, and even stating the employment terms.

But for two months, they were still not given any work, he claimed.

About two weeks ago, the workers were informed by a company representative that the company couldn't give them work and that they would have to go home.

When contacted yesterday, the director of Gates Offshore, who asked not be named, claimed that he had only stepped in to help the workers because their employer was missing.

He said: 'I agreed to help because the workers came to me asking for help, and now I've ended up with more trouble.'

Contrary to what the workers said, he claimed that they have been paid their full salaries.

Meanwhile, the MOM in an e-mail late yesterday to The New Paper said 28 of the 36 who had reported to the ministry had reached a settlement and have since returned home. The eight remaining workers have yet to confirm their settlement.

The director of Gates Offshore said the company is in the process of repatriating the remaining 70. The rest had returned home earlier.

Mr Md Jahangir was at the airport on Monday to see off a group of the workers. A company representative gave them a few hundred dollars depending on when they arrived here, Mr Md Jahangir claimed.

Borrowed money

This is not enough, the workers said, as they paid agents between $8,000 to $10,000 thinking they would be shipyard workers here. They had to borrow the money and some had to resort to loansharks, Mr Md Jahangir said.

'We told them it's fine if we don't get our salaries, but we need our $8,000 (agent fees) back,' he said.

Mr Md Jahangir said they were upset and crying but they had no choice but to leave.

He said: 'The money was so little. They were very sad, and they didn't want to leave.'

This is the second group, in as many days, which is in the same dilemma.

Yesterday, The Straits Times reported that 55 Bangladeshi workers from construction sub-contractor Tunnel & Shaft were being sent home as the company did not have enough work for them after its two major projects were delayed due to the economic climate.

This article was first published in The New Paper on January 15, 2009.