Labour Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore has revealed the government's plan to send Kenyans to help the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) build a new tourist city.
In a statement released on Thursday, the CS disclosed that the two governments were in talks to dispatch skilled construction workers from Kenya for jobs at the site of the proposed Neom City in Saudi Arabia.
“During my recent visit to Saudi Arabia, I noted that KSA is planning to build a new city called Neom in the Tabkut Province to function as a tourist destination," Bore noted.
"We have held talks on how Kenya can support this construction by supplying workers in the field of architecture, engineering and engineering trades, contractors, masonry, landscapers, designers, plumbers, building and construction, plant operators, civil works technicians, electrical works, landscaping and cartographers."
Neom is a Ksh77 trillion City that KSA aims to build in the Tabkut Province to serve as a tourist destination.
The proposed city whose construction is set to kick off in 2024 is expected to be a huge economic zone projected to house nine million people.
According to the CS, Saudi Arabia forms a top market for Kenyan labourers with more than 210,000 Kenyans working in the Kingdom.
“Approximately 70 per cent of Kenyan workers in Saudi Arabia are low-skilled and domestic workers while 30 per cent are semi-skilled, skilled and professionals,” Bore observed.
She, therefore, affirmed that the move was part of the Kenya Kwanza Administration’s agenda and investment in human capital under the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA Plan).
Previously, the government made arrangements to send more workers to Saudi Arabia with the President announcing more opportunities for Kenyans in Saudi Arabia earlier this year.
In her statement, CS Bore further emphasised the importance of holding the talks between both governments citing the need for the state to create safe and orderly labour migration of Kenyan workers to Saudi Arabia.
The push comes amidst plans by the state to ensure the safety of Kenyans working in the Gulf countries after claims of abuse of Kenyan workers became rampant.
