Gravel pile at construction site puts children at risk

Children as young as three are putting themselves at risk by playing at a construction site where a new road is being laid.

The youngsters are climbing across piles of gravel and wandering among trucks and diggers that collect the material.

Construction supervisors insist they have guards to keep the children away, but said it is impossible to keep the site secure.

They have complained of repeated vandalism despite the presence of the guards.

Work on widening the road behind the Mazaya Centre mall off Shaikh Zayed Road began in June and is set to continue until April.

The gravel and sand foundation material for the road is being stored in front of the Toyota building, a nearby residential building. Youngsters are regularly seen playing on the piles of material, often close to the heavy vehicles coming and going.

One resident of the Toyota building, who asked not to be named, said: "It is a very, very unsafe place for children to play.

"If a mini avalanche started when they were clambering up the piles of gravel, they could be covered by it, especially because some are really young.

"It's also dangerous for them to be so near the large vehicles that are moving round the site. They shouldn't be there and nothing seems to be done about it. It's an accident waiting to happen."

The municipality has ordered Emirates Roads Contracting to convert the single-lane road into a two-lane road.

The site where the gravel is stored is partially fenced off by posts that hold up a single piece of plastic wire.

Children can easily walk underneath or simply walk around it to get into the site.

When Gulf News visited the site, a string of youngsters, two of whom said they were just three years old, were playing on the gravel in full view of the staff.

Mohammad, an 11-year-old, said that children have been warned against playing in the area. "They told us don't play here, go home, but the children are playing here every day," he said.

Site engineer Khalib Walid said youngsters were proving to be "a major pain," but added that workers were powerless to do anything.

"These children, we can do nothing about them. At night, we have guards, and during the day lots of people are there, but they are not able to hold them back. They cannot just keep chasing them away from the area," he said.

"It's okay if they play on the gravel it's not a safety risk for them unless they swallow the gravel.

"Besides, we have to put the gravel somewhere. We cannot keep it locked up in a big store."

Walid said the main problem with children playing on the site was vandalism rather than a safety risk.

"They smash our equipment. We have woken up to find broken lights and things like that," he said.