KUWAIT CITY, Dec 22: Around 250 Egyptian security guards carried out a protest outside the Ministry of Social Affairs , demanding payment of seven months’ salaries owed to them by a company.
The protestors represented about 19,000 of their colleagues, and cried that President Hosni Mubarak should hear about their suffering at the hands of the company. They described the management of the organization and officials at the Ministry as jokers and demanded that they be allowed to transfer their residencies to other companies or be sent back to their country.


One of the protestors Ashraf Abdul-Fatah affirmed that he has been working with the company for three years and has not received his salary for the past seven months. He said most of the workers are residency violators as the company has not renewed their permits. “I have been violating the residency law for the past four months. The company owes me KD 800, which I will collect and return to Egypt, since I have a wife and children and need to see them”, he lamented.
Another protestor Redha Al-Saeed alleged that when some of them registered complaints at the ministry, their names were given to the company, and the company then terminated their appointment. “There is no light and water in our accommodation and our property owner does not let us use the elevators”, he complained.


Similarly, Ibrahim Mahmoud declared that he wanted to return to Egypt, and therefore, needs his entitlements. He demanded that the Egyptian President hear about the plight of his people. “We work for 16 hours a day and receive only KD 120 a month. We have not received salaries for the past seven months and we are fed up”, he fumed.
Meanwhile, workers of an unidentified company which has a cleaning contract with the Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital demonstrated against their company because they have not received their salaries for the past six months, reports Alam Alyawm daily.
Meanwhile, the Al-Rai daily said cleaning company workers at the Adan Hospital also demonstrated and the services were badly affected.
The daily added elderly people visiting the hospital had to walk 400 meters because there was no one to get their medical files - a job normally done by the cleaning company workers. - Arab Times