26 Indonesians stranded after being ditched by Guyanese employer

…Indonesian official expected in Guyana soon

Having been promised a lucrative salary and proper accommodation, 26 adult male Indonesians travelled approximately 12,000 miles to take up employment with an established fishery in Guyana. They are now stranded after the company failed to meet its obligation.
The men had been working with the company for several months, frequenting the seas on the tuna vessels, but they got fired after they objected to the payment and living conditions they were receiving.
The men have, for the past three days, been seeking refuge at the Providence Sunnatul Masjid on the East Bank of Demerara. When this publication visited the Masjid on Saturday, the men were observed cooking and hanging around the compound. they were however unable to communicate with the <<Guyana Times>> because of the language barrier.
A female member of the Masjid told this publication that the men reported that they were offered US$400 (5,367,200 Indonesian Rupiah) per month to come and work with the popular fishing establishment, but what they were being paid in Guyana dollars did not translate into the promised amount. She said the men objected to this, but got no satisfactory answer, and were ordered out of the establishment’s compound.
“The (men) were saying that they were not getting enough food and thing to eat at the back there, so eventually they came over here, like three days now, and the brothers at the Masjid are helping them to buy foodstuff, so that they can cook and eat,” she informed.
The woman said they were informed that the owner of the fishing company was out of the country, and is expected back on Sunday, but it is unclear whether he would accede to the men’s request. However, she said the brothers at the masjid made contact with the Indonesian Embassy in neighbouring Suriname, and a representative is expected in Guyana on Monday to address the men’s situation.
When contacted, State Minister Joseph Harmon told <<Guyana Times>> that he is yet to receive any information regarding the incident, and that he is unclear whether the embassy officials had contacted the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Further efforts to contact Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge and Citizenship Minister Winston Felix proved futile.
For now, the men remain in the compound of the masjid, and are being taken care of by members of the community in collaboration with the administration at the mosque. They dwell in the yard of the compound during the day, and at night they would sleep on mattresses in a section of the masjid.