Algeria employers prefer to hire Filipino workers

The employers in Algeria continue to express preference for Filipino workers as they intend to hire more of them.

Labor attache Nasser Mustafa of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Tripoli, Libya relayed this report to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.

Mustafa filed the report after conducting site verification and ocular inspection of three companies in Algeria which include COJAAL, Samsung and Doodsal that have signified intention to hire more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) of their various projects.

“I also looked into the working and living conditions of the existing OFWs in these companies, including those that have been deployed in Daewoo E&C, another Algerian employer,” Mustafa said in his report.

Mustafa said that upon arriving in Algiers, capital of Algeria, he and Philippine Embassy third secretary and vice consul Jose Garcia III proceeded to Annabah, a province east of Algiers, and a few hundred kilometers west of the Tunisian border, to meet with the management of MITAC, the Japanese international firm.

He also said that MITAC was contracted with the Algerian National Agency for Highways which completed already the 220-km road construction project through COJAAL, a consortium of five Japanese companies which are Kajima, Taichi, Nishimachu, Hajana and Ituchu.

Mustafa said COJAAL is now starting construction of another 17-km superhighway aims to connect Annabah to the Tunisian border.

The POLO chief said most workers of MITAC-COJAAL who completed the 220-km Constantine project have been transferred to Camp 7, a project site which has two satellite worksites that need more highly skilled workers.

He explained that at the COJAAL Satellite No. 3, he personally saw the working and living conditions of the Filipino workers and found the camp, as well as the worksite, to be satisfactory. “The OFWs there were highly regarded by the COJAAL management as evidenced by the ‘zero’ complaints as to date,” he said.

Mustafa reported that in this worksite, food and accommodation were not only suitable, but also adequate as each room has four beds, with the building having common entertainment and several comfort rooms.

He noted that the whole camp is also provided with a wi-fi system which enable the workers to communicate easily with their families at home. –Mina Diaz, Daily Tribune