By Olimatou Coker
At least 25 Gambians, all female, are set to be sent to Saudi Arabia next Tuesday with 25 more to follow shortly.
As part of preparations before departure, the Ministry of Employment in collaboration with licensed recruitment agencies, organised a two-day pre-departure orientation training workshop.
The training was designed “to equip the workers with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in their deployment, as well as to familiarise them with the cultural and climatic differences and labour market conditions of Saudi Arabia,” the organisers said.
Fabba Jammeh, director of employment at the ministry, said the training workshop is “a crucial milestone” in ensuring the successful deployment of Gambian workers into the Saudi labour market for the first time.
He said close to 5,000 workers are expected to be deployed on two-year contracts.
He said the new 2023 Labour Act has made provision for the supply of labour to other countries and that the legal recruitment would ensure the safety of the workers.
He said the Gambians will be well paid compared to the remunerations for workers from other African countries in the kingdom.
Modou Camara, the CEO of Outsource Recruitment
Agency, urged the Gambians to be law-abiding and work within the domain of their contracts.
“Based on this bilateral agreement, we are working with some recruitment agencies in Saudi Arabia. What happened is the Saudi government has a system called Musaned where all recruitment agencies are registered, and it ensures
protection for the workers.
“The lowest that the inexperienced workers will be having is US$200 per month but it could increase to US$250 they progress into the contract for the two years. At the end of the two-year period, then they will sit together and see whether the contract can be renewed,” he explained.
