In a bid to establish Libya as a reliable destination for Nepali workers, the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (MoLTM) has written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), seeking detail information about the prospect of jobs for Nepali workers there.

“We have written to the MoFA for detail information about the prospects of employment for Nepali workers in Libya. We have also asked the foreign ministry about the possibility of increasing existing salary for Nepali workers,” Baburam Acharya, secretary at the MoLTM, told myrepublica.com.

Four month back, 300 Nepali workers had left for Libya to work as construction workers. They were offered a monthly salary of $200 per month. “The salary that the Nepali workers are being offered is below our expectations. We are trying to fix the salary at around $300 per month, if not $400 per month that their Libyan counterparts are currently drawing,” Acharya said.

Purna Chandra Bhattarai, joint secretary at the MoLTM, said the ministry has asked the foreign ministry about the existing salary, security situation, nature of works, among others so as to assess the possibility of making Libya a reliable labor destination for Nepali workers.

“If the foreign ministry gives us positive feedback, we will review the minimum salary being offered by Libya to ensure greater benefits for Nepali workers,” he added.

SOS Manpower and Kantipur Overseas had sent 300 and 40 Nepali workers respectively to the North African nation four months back to work in the booming infrastructure development sector. Som Bataju, managing director of SOS Manpower, said the Nepali workers were working for Daewoo Construction and Engineering Company´s multi-billion dollar investment project in Libya for $200 per month, though they had earlier agreed to work in $175. “We have not received any complaint about the remuneration from the workers so far,” Bataju said.

The company had placed demand of over 2,000 Nepali workers in February. According to Department of Foreign Employment, 244 Nepali workers left for Libya during the 2007/08 fiscal year. Libya is planning to hire about one million foreign workers, mostly blue-collared ones, for its $130 billion infrastructure project. Libyan economy is largely based on oil revenue, which constitutes about one-quarter to gross domestic product (GDP).

Orientation for labor attaches

Meanwhile, four labor attaches appointed for Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Qatar and the UAE have started to report to the foreign ministry from Wednesday. The government has appointed under secretaries Surya Prasad Bhandari and Binod Khanal as labor attachés for Malaysia and Saudi Arabia respectively.

Likewise, section officers Dhruba Koirala and Parbati Aryal have been appointed for Qatar and the United Arab Emirates respectively. The ministry is imparting job-based orientation to the labor attaches from Sunday, Acharya said.

Published on: 10 September 2009 | Republica