Shift in Focus
Chapter 7: Pay Day
Chapter 8
It was fast approaching one year since the MAG 218 and Dubai Marina became the focus of my attention. In the beginning it was about what it would be like to live in the Marina. Though a work in progress it was possible to walk the partially barricaded promenade and envision future views. It was fascinating to see one tower begin to rise after another. I was anxious to see new heights scaled as 80, 90 and 100+ storey towers were due to be constructed.
Abdul Rahim's eagerness encouraged my own to monitor in detail the progress of work on the MAG 218 tower. There was not, however, very much to monitor. For months the expected start date was delayed, until year-end when the first contractor to begin work onsite was announced. Still then, another 3 months would pass before any significant amount of progress had been made. Nevertheless, I would continue to update my blog with photos and progress details.
As time progressed, however, I discovered there was more of interest in the Marina than what it was to become. It was already the site of a vast population of laborers who were like cogs in the wheel. Their role in the building process was both among the most taxing and fundamental, yet unlike other essential agents--the designers, engineers, project managers, etc.--the compensation received for their efforts was unconscionable. No justification could be offered for paying such meager wages on projects that sold at such high prices, except, that is, if one were to attempt to justify the practice of labor exploitation.
The truth is none of what I had seen was really new to me. It was common knowledge in the UAE that laborers were underpaid, over-worked and lived in inhumane conditions. The problem was that caring or really doing anything about this was difficult, too difficult it seemed. The UAE with its 80% expatriate population was not a place for activism. One lived and worked here by the good graces of the country's rulers. Displease them and you might be sent back from where you had come.
Few were ready to mount a challenge even on behalf of the laborers they saw suffering among them. The laborers, themselves, were no more likely to stand up for their own rights. In this regard, all were in the same boat. Many among the local population may also have felt restrained. While there being no risk of deportation, nationals received a lot in the way of grants and subsidies from government. They too would not want to bite the hand that feeds.
Walking through the Dubai Marina had begun to inspire me. Talking with a few of the workers made me more sympathetic. Perhaps action was not an all or nothing proposition. Understandably the laborers themselves were afraid to raise their quiet voices. As bad as things were they could always get worse if one risked rocking the boat. Those who sat on more comfortable perches, like myself, also had a lot to lose, but small moves, small acts and even thoughtful gestures might make a difference. At least it could be a starting point.
The first place to start was with the web. Blogging in the UAE, though not as big a phenomenon as in many other countries, had nonetheless a following among a group of self-styled web-diarists. Their UAE Community blog offered just the form for this motley crew with varied interest to whisper, shout about or otherwise plug. It was now my turn to use this forum as a springboard for my own agenda. Having an agenda, it would seem, was the key to making a difference. With this in mind I set out to focus attention on the issue of labor exploitation, particularly that with regard to construction the construction industry.
The local newspapers were already doing a good job of pointing out the problems, which if anything the public was probably beginning to grow numb to. That is why I had to also try to stir up a dialogue. My 16 June post at the UAE Community blog was an attempt to do that:
My next step would be to set up my own blog devoted exclusively to the topic of laborers in the UAE, specifically within the construction industry--of whom some estimates place near 500,000 workers. Thus, the blog, In Support of Laborers in the UAE was born.
The idea, in fact, to create such a website had been planted in my mind years earlier, after my first visit to a labor camp. The camp was located in a sprawling community in the industrial town of Musafa, some 30 km from central Abu Dhabi. Once exiting the main highway one would continue on secondary roads to reach the camp area spread out over a number of blocks. Up to 50 thousand workers were probably housed in the area. While not so large in acerage and having no large buildings most camps fit 12 or more men into a room in what were usually porta-cabin type structures. An assemblage of such units would house several hundred to a 1000 men, who would share the communal toilets, showers and kitchens. Provided ammenities included window-unit air-conditioners and running water. The men usually furnished their own rooms with a tv (along with a hacked sattelite or cable connection) and a small refrigerator.
The best way to characterize such dwellings are with words like ramshackle, laundry--hanging everywhere--and crowded. They lacked storage facilities or even vacant space, and the bedroom served as hall and dining room. Meal time meant spreading newspaper on the floor, and taking out dishes from under beds. The 12 men in a room might eat in groups of 3 or 4, taking turns so as not to crowd each other out.
On my many visits to a number of different labor camps and the accommodations of different companies, I seldom came across any that were filfthy or smelly. The 12-20 men per room and the hundreds in the compound managed to keep their quarters clean and more-or-less livable. Somehow, in deed, they managed this through personal tidiness. There were also cleaners assigned to clean toilets and bathrooms. Other than that, one must say that the men had learned coping skills and strategies that enabled them to live in not only in clean--albeit cluttered quarters--but also in relative harmony. Never did I see a fight, although there were the occasional arguments, and I did often find camaraderie. That being said many were lonely and uncomfortable. They learned how to grin and bear the difficulties.
There were differences among the labor camps, although all were over-crowded. Abu Dhabi had only the one, with countless other laborers and other low-wage workers of various categories, crammed into apartment buildings in the city. Dubai had three. One was the older Sonapur, several times larger than Abu Dhabi's Musafa camp with different levels of accommodations, and in general even more crowding. In the evenings and on weekends the dusty roads would be crawling with thousands of workers scurrying about to take care of needs or visiting friends and relatives at other company barracks. Steam would always seem to be pouring out of the communal toilets and washrooms as the desert temperatures meant there was no such thing as cool tap water.
What characterized every campsite was the envelope of darkness that descended upon the township with night. The municipality provided almost no lighting. The busses, trucks and cars that transported the laborers had to skirt around the almost invisible bunches of men who walked beside the roads or dashed across. It was an incredibly hazardous environment.
The newer, Al Quoz camp area in Dubai was spread across an industrial area. The labor camps shared the large district with warehouses and storage yards. The buildings here were larger and better constructed, usually of 3 or 4 floors. Everything was generally better in Al Quoz. The roads were wider, the floors in buildings had Formica or tiles and there were few, but better shops than in the other labor camp areas. In Musafa and Sonapur, many of the structures were truly dilapidated, the plumbing, electric supply and air-conditioning faulty. In Al Quoz there were generally fewer of these problems, although the crowding was the same.
The newest Dubai labor accommodation area was in Jebel Ali, some 40 kilometers out of the city but nearer the new Dubai project areas. LIke Al Quoz most facilities were newer and sturdier. There was, however, less infrastructure in place than any of the older camps. No shops, few transport options and in many instances companies left workers without essential services like water and electricity. It was a new, but in many ways neglected addition to the collection of labor camps or villages.
Such was life at the labor camps. As bad and inadequate as the facilities were, what hurt the workers just as badly were the long commutes from the campsites to the worksites. One hour each way was common. In Dubai that could go up to two hours, ehich often meant boarding a bus as early as 5 or 6 a.m. and returning in the evening as late as 6 or 7 p.m. Additionally, laundry facilities were woefully inadequate. The men had to do most of their washing by hand and hang dry clothes in any available spot. Cooking facilities were hardly any better but most of the men would turn into one pot dish specialists. When they could afford to they ate mounds of rice with vegetable or meat dishes cooked in generous portions of liquid. Most, in time, probably learned to prepare tastier food than their wives back home.
It was this not infrequent exposure to the living environment of the laborers that had long ago given me an urge to speak out, perhaps through the means of a webpage. But there was never that definitive moment that would say to me the time is now. It was not until I had the opportunity to appreciate the utter contrast between the real life of the laborer and the life of luxury they were laboring to construct on the Marina's rising landscape. Repeatedly walking along the promenade and engaging with the hardworking yet friendly men on the construction sites finally spurred me to turn idea into action.
1928 (this post), total 13,885 words
Chapter 9: Philanthropy
Technorati Tags: UAE labour camps, UAE labor camps, Al Quoz, Sonapur
Chapter 8
It was fast approaching one year since the MAG 218 and Dubai Marina became the focus of my attention. In the beginning it was about what it would be like to live in the Marina. Though a work in progress it was possible to walk the partially barricaded promenade and envision future views. It was fascinating to see one tower begin to rise after another. I was anxious to see new heights scaled as 80, 90 and 100+ storey towers were due to be constructed.
Abdul Rahim's eagerness encouraged my own to monitor in detail the progress of work on the MAG 218 tower. There was not, however, very much to monitor. For months the expected start date was delayed, until year-end when the first contractor to begin work onsite was announced. Still then, another 3 months would pass before any significant amount of progress had been made. Nevertheless, I would continue to update my blog with photos and progress details.
As time progressed, however, I discovered there was more of interest in the Marina than what it was to become. It was already the site of a vast population of laborers who were like cogs in the wheel. Their role in the building process was both among the most taxing and fundamental, yet unlike other essential agents--the designers, engineers, project managers, etc.--the compensation received for their efforts was unconscionable. No justification could be offered for paying such meager wages on projects that sold at such high prices, except, that is, if one were to attempt to justify the practice of labor exploitation.
The truth is none of what I had seen was really new to me. It was common knowledge in the UAE that laborers were underpaid, over-worked and lived in inhumane conditions. The problem was that caring or really doing anything about this was difficult, too difficult it seemed. The UAE with its 80% expatriate population was not a place for activism. One lived and worked here by the good graces of the country's rulers. Displease them and you might be sent back from where you had come.
Few were ready to mount a challenge even on behalf of the laborers they saw suffering among them. The laborers, themselves, were no more likely to stand up for their own rights. In this regard, all were in the same boat. Many among the local population may also have felt restrained. While there being no risk of deportation, nationals received a lot in the way of grants and subsidies from government. They too would not want to bite the hand that feeds.
Walking through the Dubai Marina had begun to inspire me. Talking with a few of the workers made me more sympathetic. Perhaps action was not an all or nothing proposition. Understandably the laborers themselves were afraid to raise their quiet voices. As bad as things were they could always get worse if one risked rocking the boat. Those who sat on more comfortable perches, like myself, also had a lot to lose, but small moves, small acts and even thoughtful gestures might make a difference. At least it could be a starting point.
The first place to start was with the web. Blogging in the UAE, though not as big a phenomenon as in many other countries, had nonetheless a following among a group of self-styled web-diarists. Their UAE Community blog offered just the form for this motley crew with varied interest to whisper, shout about or otherwise plug. It was now my turn to use this forum as a springboard for my own agenda. Having an agenda, it would seem, was the key to making a difference. With this in mind I set out to focus attention on the issue of labor exploitation, particularly that with regard to construction the construction industry.
The local newspapers were already doing a good job of pointing out the problems, which if anything the public was probably beginning to grow numb to. That is why I had to also try to stir up a dialogue. My 16 June post at the UAE Community blog was an attempt to do that:
Small MovesMy plea generated sympathetic responses. Many agreed with the sentiments and some debated whether there was, in fact, anything that we as individuals could do. It was the effect I was looking for.
It is hard to live in the UAE and not feel some compassion for the many people seen laboring in the hot sun constructing roads and buildings and carrying out all manner of civil works. Added to this is the knowledge that wages are meagre and, even at that, sometimes unpaid for months.
Furthermore, one can see the burgeoning of a mature and developed property market, where end-users pay millions of dirham for modest homes and apartments, while wages being paid the laborers who build them remain largely unchanged. A certain amount sympathy arises for the workers and even anger toward a system that allows such problems to persist.
We all in the UAE are in some way part of that system and thereby bear some culpability. Isn't time we venture to take some action on a personal level--however limited our reach?
My next step would be to set up my own blog devoted exclusively to the topic of laborers in the UAE, specifically within the construction industry--of whom some estimates place near 500,000 workers. Thus, the blog, In Support of Laborers in the UAE was born.
The idea, in fact, to create such a website had been planted in my mind years earlier, after my first visit to a labor camp. The camp was located in a sprawling community in the industrial town of Musafa, some 30 km from central Abu Dhabi. Once exiting the main highway one would continue on secondary roads to reach the camp area spread out over a number of blocks. Up to 50 thousand workers were probably housed in the area. While not so large in acerage and having no large buildings most camps fit 12 or more men into a room in what were usually porta-cabin type structures. An assemblage of such units would house several hundred to a 1000 men, who would share the communal toilets, showers and kitchens. Provided ammenities included window-unit air-conditioners and running water. The men usually furnished their own rooms with a tv (along with a hacked sattelite or cable connection) and a small refrigerator.
The best way to characterize such dwellings are with words like ramshackle, laundry--hanging everywhere--and crowded. They lacked storage facilities or even vacant space, and the bedroom served as hall and dining room. Meal time meant spreading newspaper on the floor, and taking out dishes from under beds. The 12 men in a room might eat in groups of 3 or 4, taking turns so as not to crowd each other out.
On my many visits to a number of different labor camps and the accommodations of different companies, I seldom came across any that were filfthy or smelly. The 12-20 men per room and the hundreds in the compound managed to keep their quarters clean and more-or-less livable. Somehow, in deed, they managed this through personal tidiness. There were also cleaners assigned to clean toilets and bathrooms. Other than that, one must say that the men had learned coping skills and strategies that enabled them to live in not only in clean--albeit cluttered quarters--but also in relative harmony. Never did I see a fight, although there were the occasional arguments, and I did often find camaraderie. That being said many were lonely and uncomfortable. They learned how to grin and bear the difficulties.
There were differences among the labor camps, although all were over-crowded. Abu Dhabi had only the one, with countless other laborers and other low-wage workers of various categories, crammed into apartment buildings in the city. Dubai had three. One was the older Sonapur, several times larger than Abu Dhabi's Musafa camp with different levels of accommodations, and in general even more crowding. In the evenings and on weekends the dusty roads would be crawling with thousands of workers scurrying about to take care of needs or visiting friends and relatives at other company barracks. Steam would always seem to be pouring out of the communal toilets and washrooms as the desert temperatures meant there was no such thing as cool tap water.
What characterized every campsite was the envelope of darkness that descended upon the township with night. The municipality provided almost no lighting. The busses, trucks and cars that transported the laborers had to skirt around the almost invisible bunches of men who walked beside the roads or dashed across. It was an incredibly hazardous environment.
The newer, Al Quoz camp area in Dubai was spread across an industrial area. The labor camps shared the large district with warehouses and storage yards. The buildings here were larger and better constructed, usually of 3 or 4 floors. Everything was generally better in Al Quoz. The roads were wider, the floors in buildings had Formica or tiles and there were few, but better shops than in the other labor camp areas. In Musafa and Sonapur, many of the structures were truly dilapidated, the plumbing, electric supply and air-conditioning faulty. In Al Quoz there were generally fewer of these problems, although the crowding was the same.
The newest Dubai labor accommodation area was in Jebel Ali, some 40 kilometers out of the city but nearer the new Dubai project areas. LIke Al Quoz most facilities were newer and sturdier. There was, however, less infrastructure in place than any of the older camps. No shops, few transport options and in many instances companies left workers without essential services like water and electricity. It was a new, but in many ways neglected addition to the collection of labor camps or villages.
Such was life at the labor camps. As bad and inadequate as the facilities were, what hurt the workers just as badly were the long commutes from the campsites to the worksites. One hour each way was common. In Dubai that could go up to two hours, ehich often meant boarding a bus as early as 5 or 6 a.m. and returning in the evening as late as 6 or 7 p.m. Additionally, laundry facilities were woefully inadequate. The men had to do most of their washing by hand and hang dry clothes in any available spot. Cooking facilities were hardly any better but most of the men would turn into one pot dish specialists. When they could afford to they ate mounds of rice with vegetable or meat dishes cooked in generous portions of liquid. Most, in time, probably learned to prepare tastier food than their wives back home.
It was this not infrequent exposure to the living environment of the laborers that had long ago given me an urge to speak out, perhaps through the means of a webpage. But there was never that definitive moment that would say to me the time is now. It was not until I had the opportunity to appreciate the utter contrast between the real life of the laborer and the life of luxury they were laboring to construct on the Marina's rising landscape. Repeatedly walking along the promenade and engaging with the hardworking yet friendly men on the construction sites finally spurred me to turn idea into action.
1928 (this post), total 13,885 words
Chapter 9: Philanthropy
Technorati Tags: UAE labour camps, UAE labor camps, Al Quoz, Sonapur
posted by B.D. at Wednesday, November 15, 2006
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