Workers' camps to be relocated

By MOHAMMED AL A'ALI
LABOUR camps in residential areas of Manama could soon be moved to protect both nearby families and the expatriate workers who live there, according to a municipal councillor.
The Manama Municipal Council has already identified the areas where they should be moved from and the places where they will be relocated to.
It approved the measure in its initial form yesterday and will now discuss it further before rubberstamping it and forwarding it to Municipalities and Agriculture Minister Ali Saleh Al Saleh.
Council technical affairs committee chairman Sadiq Rahma said accommodation where many workers are living now does not comply with international labour laws and regulations.
He described some accommodation as dilapidated old houses where workers are stacked on top of each other and hopes that by relocating them they will get better living conditions.
He added the move should also mean an end to clashes between labourers and neighbouring residents, who have complained in the past about the behaviour of single male workers.
"There are around 20 labourers in two rooms with one toilet to serve them all and I believe this should end because they are not animals and should be treated better than this," Mr Rahma told the GDN.
"The new rule comes up with bigger spaces for workers according to the size of the camp, which will now have to fulfil certain requirements to be permitted to house labourers."
Mr Rahma said residents had complained that labourers were trespassing on their privacy and freedom.
"They believe these outsiders pose a danger to their children - especially their daughters - since they are being cut off from contact with women," he said.
"Some even get drunk and walk through the neighbourhood at night, which is scary for many residents who see some of them sleeping on their doorsteps or on their property."
Mr Rahma said that residential areas where labour camps are found are known, as are others purely used to accommodate labourers.
"We are planning to move labourers from residential areas to places where labour camps are found, rather than keep them with residents," he said.
"For example, we have identified block 302 in Manama as being filled with labour camps and we have no intention of moving anyone from there.
"The plan is that if anyone gets moved from residential areas in the future they will be told to move to similar blocks away from residences."
Mr Rahma said the decision would first be published in the Official Gazette before owners of labour camps or those renting them out are given a grace period to comply with the new rule.
"They will be either instructed to move their labourers away from residential areas or provide them with better accommodation in the house they are living in, according to regulations," he said.
"For example, if 20 are stacked in a labour camp, they will be reduced to five to ensure they are being treated as human beings."
He added that expatriate families would not be affected by the new measures.
"We are not speaking about expat families, who are living among us," he said.
"The law only applies to labour camps where bachelors live.
"Families were never a part of our plans to organise residential areas and will never be."