UAE labourers in line for better facilities

Dubai: Unskilled expatriate labourers must be provided better living and working conditions in the UAE given the growing job opportunities in their countries, construction experts said.

According to Robert Lee, executive director of Nakheel, speaking at the MEED Construction Skills and Labour Resource management conference, "right now, we have a zero chance of getting construction workers to live in Dubai."

Nakheel's Omran development based in the Dubai Waterfront can house 60,000 beds for service and construction workers. The first 5,000 beds will be ready in the second quarter of this year.

The accommodation offers each resident at least 40 square feet of living space, a bathroom for eight residents and houses only four people in a room.

Things have changed for labourers as countries which have been big sources of labour for the UAE are undergoing rapid economic development.

This bodes well for labourers. Australian company Leighton, working on projects in India, gives its workers a four-day holiday each month so that they can visit their families in remote areas, according to Samir Khosla, managing director of Dynamic Staffing Solutions.