NEARLY 400 workers employed by Sungwon, the company responsible for building the stalled Isa Town flyover, lodged an official complaint with the government yesterday - claiming they hadn't been paid in three months.

The men, from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, also told Labour Ministry officials they had been sitting idle at their labour accommodation since the middle of last month.

They descended on the ministry yesterday demanding their outstanding wages and plane tickets home, but said they would also be happy to transfer to other companies in Bahrain.

It is yet another blow to the BD43 million flyover project, which was originally scheduled for completion in July.

South Korean company Sungwon started work on the project in October 2007, but the Works Ministry announced on Saturday that it had terminated its contract 'for failure to improve their performance and sort out their financial matters'.

It said that only 40 per cent of work had so far been completed and workers told the GDN yesterday they were afraid they would not be paid, claiming that the company officials were leaving the country.

"There has been no work for us since January 17 and we are sitting idle in our camp," said one worker on condition of anonymity

"Though we don't have work to do, we were told by the company that we would still receive our basic salary because it is not our fault.

"Our salaries had been pending since November and we only got the money for November on February 16, after we threatened to go to the Labour Ministry.

"Then we noticed that Korean officials were leaving the company one by one and we thought: 'What if the company was winding up its office in Bahrain? Who would we go to for our money?'

"That is why we decided to approach the ministry anyway.

"The company still owes us salaries for December, January and this month.

Another worker, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the GDN that Labour Ministry officials asked Sungwon's workforce to be patient - saying it could take up to a week to resolve the issue with the firm.

"The officials assured us the company would not be allowed to leave Bahrain without paying us," he added.

"They would visit our camp to collect details about us and speak to the company.

Meanwhile, the Labour Ministry issued a statement yesterday confirming that the workers had sought government help.

Demands

"Officials from the ministry's complaints department met with the workers and took down their demands, which included air tickets for some of them who had completed their contract period," it said.

"Ministry officials contacted people from the company's administration section to check the legitimacy of the complaint.

"The matter will now be followed up with the company to ensure that the workers are paid."

The Works Ministry has previously resorted to seizing the project site and taking possession of all equipment due to problems with the development.

However, in August last year, Sungwon officials claimed that work had been halted because the firm had not been paid.

They claimed the firm was owed BD2m and, at the time, had been unable to pay more than 500 construction workers since May.

The problem was resolved following the intervention of the Labour Ministry and work restarted, but since then the project has been stop-start.

Sungwon officials authorised to speak to the Press were unavailable for comment yesterday.