Abu Dhabi: The Municipality of Abu Dhabi City has urged companies to expedite the relocation of their workers to custom-built areas and cities designated for workers' housing. The municipality has commended the co-operation of contracting, maintenance, cleaning and labour-intensive companies which had already begun relocating their workers.
The move is part of the municipality's campaign to improve general living conditions of workers by providing decent, humane and safe accommodations, a municipality spokesman said in a statement. The civic body also appealed for public support in this regard.
It stressed the positive role that landlords and investors could play in stopping the bachelors from overcrowding residential areas.
This practice had a negative bearing on the community as a whole and posed a threat to the public interest, the statement said.
It called upon community members to not allow residential buildings to be turned into congested workers' quarters.
The relocation of workers will be a joint initiative of the Ministry of Labour, the Abu Dhabi Naturalisation and Residency Directorate, the Higher Corporation for Specialised Economic Zones, and private labour-intensive companies.
Designated residential areas for workers in the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi will help improve their living conditions and also help prevent serious accidents and health issues that crop up in overcrowded quarters.
The municipality identified serious irregularities caused by workers being overcrowded in improper accommodations including a general nuisance to residents of such localities.
Owaidah Al Qubaisi, acting executive director of the municipal services sector, said the municipality continued to co-ordinate with the Higher Corporation for Specialised Economic Zones to set up labour residential cities. Five such cities were being built and would house up to 300,000 workers when completed by the end of the year, he said.
These cities were built to the latest health and security specifications, providing a clean atmosphere and environment for workers and the essential facilities for recreation, civic services, sanitation and health care, he said.
Subject to compliance
The Municipality of Abu Dhabi City is asking labour-intensive companies making any application to the municipality to furnish the lists of workers and technicians employed by them by way of evidence that their workers are actually living in the designated residential places.
If no accommodation was available at the time of application, the transaction would be initiated conditional to the company promising to provide accommodation meeting stipulations. The company is also required to produce evidence within a maximum period of three months to the effect that it had complied with specific conditions.
The Municipality will crack-down on violating labour housing in villas and residential and commercial buildings mainly targeting the category of unskilled workers. For this purpose, the Municipality conducts awareness programmes among educated bachelors .The Municipality has no objection to such persons living in the city's districts provided that they refrain from living in congested houses. The total number of room occupants must not exceed two persons while the total number of occupants of a residential unit should not exceed six persons living in appropriate social, humanitarian and healthy conditions.
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