Headlines
Indian employees of Bahrain hospital go without pay for months
Manama, March 10
Many Indians are among 200
employees of a hospital in Bahrain who have not been paid their salaries
for months and are struggling to make ends meet, a media report said
Tuesday.
"These people who work as cleaners, attenders and
security men are often without food and we sometimes pool money to
help," Gulf Daily News quoted a nurse as saying.
"Many doctors --
Indians and Europeans -- are in a fix. They cannot leave, mainly
because of their long service and dues that are owed to them," added the
nurse.
A representative of the International Hospital of
Bahrain (IHB) on Budaiya highway, who did not wish to be named, blamed
the patients for the hospital's cash flow problems, saying they have not
been paying their medical bills on time.
Meanwhile, nurses and doctors with the hospital have been quitting their jobs en masse, sources said.
"Last month alone, 14 nurses quit because they were not being paid," a hospital employee was quoted as saying.
"Our
salaries range between 200 Bahraini dinars (over $530) and 350 Bahraini
dinars for nurses and other categories while doctors are paid over 600
Bahraini dinars.
"We have home loans, car loans, children's fees,
rent and other expenses and we do not know who to turn to for help,"
the employee added.
A senior official of Bahrain's labour
ministry said the hospital management had pledged to pay its staff soon
and urged employees to contact the ministry if they were still waiting
for their pay.