Employer Tipper Corp told The Straits Times it has received instructions from the Manpower Ministry to pay the workers within the next two weeks.

A spokesman for the company said it 'is bound to pay the salaries' and it will pay the full outstanding amount.

The saga of the 180 Bangladeshi workers started 12 days ago, when they were told by one of the two subcontractors who hired them that there was no more work and they would not be paid their salaries. The subcontractors then abandoned the workers.

Last Wednesday, meal deliveries stopped and the electricity and water was cut off. Since then, their employer Tipper Corp has provided the workers with food and moved them to a workers' dormitory in Kranji.

However, the workers are still waiting for the salary that they claim has not been paid.

Tipper Corp said it cannot pay the salaries at the moment, as it does not have the workers' time sheets and payment records.

At a meeting between the Ministry of Manpower, Tipper Corp, and the subcontractors S1 Engineering and UPNB, held yesterday, Tipper Corp asked for the passports, time sheets and all documents relating to the 180 workers, and another 420 workers who were subcontracted to the two companies.

Tipper said it is expecting to receive all the documents this Friday.

Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.