Sharjah: Workers have complained of waiting all night to get their medical fitness test done at a centre in Sharjah.
Applicants said some of them starting queuing up at iftar (around 7pm) in order to obtain a token after 5am the following morning during Ramadan.
The huge line can be seen growing at night at the Labourers Medical Fitness Centre in Industrial Area 5, which opens at 9am and closes at 2pm during Ramadan.
Security staff, however, start letting in the workers in batches after 5am to collect tokens. Once the tokens are finished, the workers left outside have to disperse despite the long wait.
An official said the capacity of the centre is 400 to 450 applicants per day but many workers said only around 250 of them are served on any given day. Their claims could not be independently verified.
The centre is the only one dedicated to serve labourers exclusively, some of whom claimed they are turned away at other centres. The medical fitness test, which involves blood sample collection to screen for certain diseases, is required for new residence visas and renewal.
Workers sleep rough on the street and have their suhour, the predawn meal taken before the day’s fast, while in line.
“If we leave to use the bathroom, we risk losing our space in the queue as no one will let us back in. So you just have to hold it,” a Pakistani worker said.
“I came here at iftar but there were still 150 people ahead of me. I’ve been waiting in line since then but still haven’t got inside the centre,” Mudir, an elderly building watchman from Pakistan, said before sunrise.
Abdul Bashar, a Bangladeshi driver, added that he failed to obtain a token despite lining up after midnight a number of times.
“I’ve been here since 10pm last night and still consider myself late, seeing the huge line. This is the only place we can come for our test and there’s so many of us. What choice is there but to wait in line for 10 hours if you want to be served?”
Two public relations officers said on condition of anonymity they have had to drop off their companies’ employees earlier and earlier each time in order to increase their chances of getting in.
“We bring them food at night. Some of them sleep on cardboard while they wait. It’s a very difficult situation,” one of the officers, from southern India, said.
The wait is even harder because of summer. The workers, many of whom are Muslim, are fasting as well.
Anyone trying to jump the queue is not welcomed and sternly told by other applicants to get in line.
“I’ve been here for 14 years and never seen anything like this. It was never this bad before. There needs to be proper arrangements for us too,” Pakistani worker Shabir Khan said.
A 38-year-old Indian sales executive, who has been a UAE resident for 18 years, said he gave up trying to get a token there after two early morning attempts in a row.
“I got my test done eventually at the Nasiriya centre as I’m above the labour category. But I feel so sorry for the workers who cannot go anywhere else,” the executive, who did not wish to be named, said.
A top official at the centre told Gulf News the centre is trying to serve as many applicants as possible and considering opening an evening shift.
He said the long queues outside the centre had not been witnessed before Ramadan, during which working hours are reduced.
“During Ramadan we open the door one and a half hours early on our own accord to allow the labourers who are waiting outside. We open the door early on our own responsibility,” the official added.
“The capacity of the centre is 400-450 labourers a day and those who wait outside are extra, but we still do not turn them away. We cannot allow the place to be crowded with so many people as we deal with the sensitive issue of public health. Perhaps one labourer who suffers from diseases will affect others.”
He explained that a number of labourers gather after the night-time Taraweeh prayer during Ramadan and stay in line of their own choice. They idle away time till the centre opens its door in the morning to get access first as the centre works only five hours during Ramadan, the official added.
“It is not our responsibility that the labourers are stopped outside,” he said.
“A few days ago, we reported the issue to police as the scene is uncivilised. Two police officers came and spoke to the labourers waiting outside. The labourers left the place but came back again after police left the premises.
“We deal with a huge number of labourers every day and we do not return any labourer who is stopped outside.”
He added: “The centre is equipped with modern equipment and everything moves speedily and smoothly inside the centre. We have our system where the staff work on collecting blood samples for four and a half hours and then send them to the lab.
“During normal days, the centre works from 7.30am till 2.30pm and we open the door for labourers at 6am.”
This centre is only for male labourers and there is another medical centre in Al Ghubaiba, which in Ramadan opens from 9am to 2pm, he added. It receives other categories of employees as well. During the evening shift, which lasts from 8.30pm to 12.30am, it receives labourers.
