P-Noy told to settle unpaid Saudi shelter rent

A migrant workers' rights group on Monday called on the Aquino administration to settle the unpaid lease on a Saudi terminal that was used as temporary shelter for three years for stranded overseas Filipino workers who have sought government assistance for repatriation.

Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Monterona renewed his group's call to for the Philippine government to pay the unpaid lease rental on the Al Mina Hajj terminal believed to have reached 1.4-M Saudi rials, roughly equivalent to P15 million, amid the surging numbers of stranded OFWs now camping out beside the Philippine Consulate building in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Last Apr.10, around 80 stranded OFWs have started to build their makeshift tents beside the Philippine Consulate building. Three days after, their number surged to 675.

In mid-2009, around 200 undocumented OFWs, some with children, camped out under the Khandera Bridge in Jeddah, western City of Saudi Arabia, to press the Philippine Consulate to expedite repatriation.

This forced the then Arroyo administration through former labor secretary Marianito Roque to rent a shelter inside the Al-Mina Haj seaport terminal.

In September 2009, the Philippine Consulate obtained permission from the Makkah Governorate and entered into a lease contract with the King Abdulaziz Endownment for Al-Ain-Aziziah, a Saudi-run agency managing the Al Mina Hajj seaport terminal.

Monterona said while he is hoping that the Philippine Consulate officials in Jeddah will immediately take care of the documentation formalities of the stranded OFWs, the Aquino administration should arrange to provide a temporary shelter and relocate them from where they have camped out.

“It’s a good idea to rent again the Al Mina Hajj terminal as a temporary shelter for the stranded OFWs just like before to lessen their burden and put them on a safer and  convenient place,” Monterona said. - Dennis Carcamo