Gulf | Bahrain
Landlord's negligence led to death of three tenants in fire, official says
A Bahraini landlord whose alleged negligence has resulted in the burning to death of three Bangladeshi workers is to face legal action over his "numerous violations of the safety laws".
- By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
- Published: 23:35 November 20, 2008
Manama: A Bahraini landlord whose alleged negligence has resulted in the burning to death of three Bangladeshi workers is to face legal action over his "numerous violations of the safety laws".
The three victims were among 22 Asian construction workers who were kept in a dilapidated building in Jid Hafs, a small town 6km west of Manama, the capital.
Brothers Tofa Mia, alias Faruk, 40, and Kadar Mia, 32, from Jagannathpur village and Masud, 47, from the village of Dhopatila, in north-east Bangladesh, died on November 7 in a dawn fire that gutted the run-down home. Seven labourers were injured while the others escaped unhurt.
"The investigation has revealed that the building owner has failed to comply with the compulsory safety and health standards," Ali Maki, the head of occupational health and safety department at the labour ministry, said.
"He did not take the precautionary measures to ensure that the labourers did not cook inside the living room, next to the area used for hanging clothes and to the bedroom. He also broke the law by not equipping the building with the fire-fighting equipment as required by the Civil Defence and failed to register it as an accommodation for labourers with the occupational health and safety department," added Maki.
Positive step
The building was demolished hours after it was gutted by the blaze following concerns that it posed a danger to people in the area.
The court action against the landlord has been hailed as a positive step by human rights activists who have voiced concerns that tragedies involving labourers could easily be forgotten in the absence of stringent enforcement of the law and the non-vigorous intervention of the victims' embassies.
The Jid Hafs blaze is an example of "a tragedy bound to happen" because of the terrible conditions in which thousands of labourers are forced to live because of their financial inability to rent safer and healthier flats, Marietta Dias, spokesperson for the Migrants Workers Protection Society in Bahrain, said.
"The problem in such cases is that while the Bahraini government has the necessary laws that address the situation, their full enforcement is the issue. The authorities should have more inspectors to check on, and seek to improve, the working and living conditions of the labourers," she said.
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