A group of 13 school cleaners today held a peaceful protest outside the Education Ministry's office in Putrajaya to demand for two months of their unpaid wages.

NGO Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas (Jerit) spokesperson Sivaranjani Manickam told Malaysiakini the unpaid wages, amounting to RM23,400, was for the months of January and February.

Following a meeting with officers from the ministry's procurement department, Sivaranjani said an agreement was reached for all 13 workers to be fully compensated.

“We were informed that the contractor has been terminated and blacklisted.

“The ministry is withholding its deposit amounting to RM43,884 and the salaries would be released from this amount,” she said, adding that the meeting was arranged following two official letters sent on March 10 and March 23.

At the same time, Sivaranjani said the compensation process must also go through the Labour Department.

“They said there is no problem but that is the procedure.

“The Labour Department must issue an order for the ministry to release the payment,” she said.

The workers had filed their cases at the Ampang Labour Department on Feb 23.

Sivaranjani, meanwhile, also noted that there were also 11 other Indonesian workers who were in the same predicament but ineligible to receive any compensation from the department.

Asked how long the process would take, she said the workers were reassured that the Education Ministry saw no reason to delay their payments.

Since March, the cleaning service contract for three schools - SMK (L) Methodist Kuala Lumpur, SMK Jalan Davidson and SRK Jalan Davidson - has been taken over by a new contractor.