UAE | Employment
Labour officials flay violence
Hundreds of workers at a construction company turned violent after a water shortage affected their labour accommodation in the early hours of yesterday, provoking condemnation from labour officials.
- By Abbas Al Lawati and Wafa Issa, staff reporters
- Published: 00:00 July 4, 2006
Dubai: Hundreds of workers at a construction company turned violent after a water shortage affected their labour accommodation in the early hours of yesterday, provoking condemnation from labour officials.
The lack of water forced workers from the Arabtec Construction Company to protest and damage company property, but no injuries were reported.
"The protesting workers had a water shortage. We expect the issue to be resolved as the company has already provided them with water," said Rashid Al Jumairi, a member of the Permanent Committee of Labour Affairs in Dubai (PCLAD).
An official spokesperson for Arabtec said that the shortages only affected water used for washing, not drinking.
This incident adds to a series of protests occurring recently over water shortages.
Last week workers from another Dubai- based company had fights over the use of water citing an inadequate supply.
"The majority of the workers who have recently been protesting water shortages have done so unjustifiably. Such as this case where a temporary problem with water supplies prevented the company from providing water to its workers," said Al Jumairi.
Piles of tyres, office equipment, smashed heavy vehicles and destroyed wooden barricades were seen in the Arabtec labour accommodation adjacent the Arabian Ranches.
A policeman at the site confirmed that the cause of the protest was a water shortage, without elaborating.
An Arabtec worker told Gulf News that workers turned violent after experiencing water shortages that lasted a day.
"They attacked engineers' accommodation and destroyed heavy vehicles by slashing tyres and breaking windows," he said.
Workers said that they have been suffering from a water shortage for a month and that yesterday they were without water for the whole day.
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