'Finally we are receiving what is our right...'

Abu Dhabi: More than two years after their company chief fled the country, 1,300 workers with an Abu Dhabi-based construction company yesterday received up to Dh6 million in unpaid wages.

Sher Khan, a spokesperson for the men who worked for the company for seven years, said they were "more than relieved" to receive their money.

"It has been a very long wait but finally we are receiving what is our right," he said.

According to Khan and the law firm representing the men, the company owner of Bridges and Roads International Construction Company (BRICC) disappeared in June 2004.

After 10 days, a delegation of workers reported his disappearance to the Ministry of Labour who set up a consultation between them, the account manager and company PRO.

The company then agreed to pay the men but a week later the account manager also fled the country taking Dh700,000 with him.

"We then returned to the ministry which advised us to get a lawyer and start legal proceedings," said Khan.

In October 2004 a court ruled the men could seek alternative employment in the UAE while they waited for their money.

Gulf News first reported this case last April when the men complained they were getting no clear signals from their lawyers as to when they would receive their dues.

At the time, Yasser Mohammad Fouad, a lawyer with Al Kuttab Lawyers and Legal Consultants said that like a number of other cases in the UAE, once the company owner leaves the country there is no guarantee workers will receive everything they are owed.

But yesterday, Ezzat Shubaji, a lawyer present at the counting out of approximately Dh6 million for the workers, said he was glad the men were finally receiving their dues. He said the two year wait was because of the complicated nature of the case.

"This has been a complicated case. We still have no idea where the former owner is and so the measures taken to ensure everyone owed money in the company have been complicated. It has been a lengthy process."

Shubaji said the men received approximately 75 per cent of their dues yesterday. The remainder will be paid in the coming months at the end of the legal process.