Workers resting at midday on the fourth floor of a city centre building site
Here is an excellent report, giving a graphic description of life for ex-pats on the building sites:
WHILE several construction sites in the heart of Doha continue to flout the orders banning labourers from working outdoors between 11.30am to 3pm – regarded as the hottest hours of the day – companies situated ‘safely’ outside the city, where government officials rarely pay a visit, seem to care even less for labour laws.
Take for example a construction site, about 40km south of the city, where a sprawling housing complex is coming up. Here, Article 74 of the Labour Law – “the actual working hours (including overtime) shall not exceed 10 hours” – isn’t taken seriously at all.
Since construction began this May, 23-year-old Nepali security guard Prem Bahadur has been working a 12-hour shift at the site with a one-hour unpaid lunch break. Bahadur’s shift begins at 6am and ends at 2pm, after which his one-hour lunch break starts. After his lunch, Bahadur is supposed to do a three-hour overtime. His day ends at 6pm.
Bahadur, along with several other workers, is then ferried to his nearby camp by bus. At the camp he shares a room and a toilet with 10 others. “Obviously, I don’t like it. But there’s nothing I can do. This is our fate,” he said. Bahadur, who came to Qatar a year ago, earns QR800 a month, which includes a fixed overtime of QR150, irrespective of the number of hours put in.
Another law – “overtime is payable at 25% above the normal rate” – is blatantly ignored. In Bahadur’s case, his earnings work out to approximately QR2.7 per hour for normal working hours, and overtime at about QR1.6 per hour.
Sitting outside his small make-shift cabin at the gate, which doesn’t even have a fan leave alone an air-conditioner, Bahadur says he prefers working in Doha than outside of it.
“I have become used to this kind of work in the heat. That’s not a problem. But in the city at least you see some life. Here, you hardly see anyone. It gets monotonous and tiring,” he says, constantly wiping the sweat off his face with a towel.
The 23-year-old worker is unaware he is being exploited. “In Nepal we work longer than 12 hours,” he said, adding, “however, it’s not so hot in Nepal.” He points towards the labourers working at the site and said “their job is tougher than mine.”
Crane-operator Santhana too works 12 hours a day without breaks. He earns the same wages as Bahadur. “We are too small to fight against an establishment,” the 30-year-old Sri Lankan said. “We work like this because we are told to. We have to. Every month, my family waits for the day I send them half my salary. That’s what I am here for, not to revolt.”
Santhana’s day starts at 4.30am, when he cooks his lunch to take to work. It’s the same fare each day – four chappatis and a bowl of lentils (daal), with a bit of pickle. There is no canteen at the construction site.
By the time Santhana is back at the camp its about six in the evening. “Sometimes, I am so exhausted I sleep without even eating dinner,” he said. At other times, Santhana either eats from the camp mess or lunch leftovers, if any. “Mostly, there isn’t, unless I make an effort to save some,” he added.
Undoubtedly, Bahadur and Santhana aren’t the only less-privileged facing exploitation. However, as another labourer at the site says, “At least in Doha, workers have hope that some day an official who passes by their site will stop and take notice. Outside Doha, there’s never going to be any hope. Just sand wherever you look.”
(Names of the labourers have been changed to protect their identities)
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