A Bangladeshi farm worker who arrived in Saudi Arabia on a monthly wage of 500 riyals has built a vegetable farm covering roughly two kilometres in the desert at Hafirat Nisa, 125 kilometres from Riyadh, and now employs more than fifty of his compatriots on it.

Kamal Uddin, from Garpara in Manikganj Sadar, went to Riyadh in 1998 as an agricultural labourer. After three years working for a Saudi employer he decided to grow produce himself, rented a farm (a mazra, in local usage) and began planting vegetables of many kinds.

The Bangladeshi workers on the farm now grow brinjal, green chilli, bitter gourd, tomato, okra, bottle gourd, sweet pumpkin and other vegetables. Board, lodging and what the workers describe as safe housing are provided along with the jobs.

Farm worker Ramzan Ali said the owner had ensured both employment and a secure place to live, so that he could stay as if in his own home. Another worker, Jahangir Alam, said wages were paid on time along with food and lodging, and that he sends remittances home from a peaceful workplace. Sajib, Sujan, Tara Mia and Sajjad Hossain, also employed there, said more than fifty Bangladeshis work on the farm and do not feel they are abroad.

Riyadh-based businessman Md Anisur Rahman said Kamal Uddin had created work for fifty remittance earners and had become a model for the local expatriate community.

Kamal Uddin said he had come to Saudi Arabia as a small labourer and, after much effort, had been able to establish a large farm with fifty workers; he intends, in stages, to create jobs for many more Bangladeshis.

Reported from Agri Barta. Source: Agri Barta