KSA to deport protesting Chinese labourers
Workers on a Mecca rail project went on strike over pay and working conditions
Saudi Arabia authorities are to deport 16 Chinese workers on a light railway project in the Muslim holy city of Mecca after they led a protest for higher wages, according to KSA media reports on Thursday 14 October.
The 16 were arrested on Tuesday 12 October after a strike by Chinese workers over pay and conditions that saw several vehicles damaged, the Al-Watan newspaper reported citing a Mecca police spokesman.
Earlier reports said workers on the project were frustrated by low pay, non-payment of wages and the high temperatures they endured working on the project, according to AFP news agency.
Several hundred Chinese workers were brought in by a consortium led by China Railway Corp for the planned 1.8 billion dollar rapid transport system to serve pilgrims visiting the Muslim holy places.
The monorail will link Mecca with the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah, which are visited by massive tides of pilgrims during the annual hajj.
Having begun in early 2009, the project is scheduled to be partially in operation in time for this year’s hajj, which begins around November 14.
There has been criticism of the carriages the consortium intends to use on the monorail but Al-Watan reported that it had been rejected by the Chinese.
