Delaying tactics are affecting the case of 16 Sri Lankan workers, who have been allegedly cheated by recruitment agencies back home and subsequently by their employer in Qatar, Gulf Times reports.

A meeting between the workers, the Sri Lankan embassy officials and the construction company officials was held yesterday.

One of the aggrieved workers told the Gulf Times that senior company officials told the Sri Lankan ambassador that the issue of pending salaries and other matters could not be resolved until the general manager returns from his vacation.

They asked for time until September 20. However, this was unacceptable to the workers, who have been without pay for more than three months. 

“The embassy officials on our behalf told the company representatives that they must come back for another meeting this coming Sunday after consulting with their GM over the phone and give their definitive replies about whether they will pay the dues of the workers. Else, the company officials were told, the matter would be taken to the labour court,” a worker who attended the meeting said.

It was reported in Gulf Times earlier that documents showed that although the workers were promised jobs as ‘light vehicle’ drivers when they were in Sri Lanka, the employment contracts prepared in Qatar listed their occupation as carpenters or other labour professions.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan embassy did not reply to queries about what action, if any, they intended to take against the recruitment agencies in Sri Lanka who allegedly cheated the workers in the first place. The ambassador and other embassy officials did not respond to phone calls despite repeated attempts, Gulf Times reports.