The Tribune

A GROUP of Chinese construction workers from Baha Mar are protesting outside the Chinese Embassy on Shirley Street, Nassau, claiming that they have not been paid in six months and wanting to be repatriated.

Around 60 workers from the China Construction America company arrived outside the Embassy at lunchtime and after two hours were still waiting to see whether they or a representative team would be allowed in. Police were called and the workers were corralled in a car park across the road from the Embassy compound by several officers while two patrol cars blocked the entrance.

The Chinese workers are claiming that they have not been paid since the end of last year and that they had been threatened when they complained. They said they had gone to the Embassy to seek security.

The workers had walked from the Baha Mar resort in Cable Beach along Bay Street to the embassy at the Montagu end of Shirley Street.

Robert Sands, Baha Mar's Senior Vice President of External Affairs, said: "Baha Mar is committed to the fair and equitable treatment of all workers associated with the project. The workers in question are employees of China State Construction, we are supporting China State Construction in their investigation into (the) concerns raised by their workers."

The following is a statement from the Chinese Embassy:

"On 9th July 2014, about 40 Chinese workers came to the Embassy of the People's Republic of China, seeking the Embassy's help to resolve their disputes with their employer. Officials of the Embassy arrived IN THE FIRST SCENE to meet with the workers and conduct inquiries. The Embassy officials had been mediating between the Chinese workers and their employer, while both parties were required to resolve their dispute through negotiation in accordance with law and their contracts.

"The Embassy requests both Chinese companies and workers to abide by the laws. We trust that the ligitimate rights and interests of both parties will be protected."