SOURCE : THE NATIONAL
DUBAI - AUG 30: More than 400 labour camps in Dubai are facing closure for failing to meet minimum health and fire safety standards.
The clampdown comes after 11 men died in an early morning fire on Tuesday that engulfed a 30-room villa complex illegally housing up to 500 labourers.
A senior Dubai Municipality official said 40 per cent of 1,033 permanent and temporary labour camps risked closure.
Some of the labour camps inspected face immediate closure, while others have been issued with probation periods ranging from three months to one year.
Three-month eviction notices have also been issued to a number of camps that failed basic health and fire safety standards set by the municipality.
During this week’s blaze, blocked exits meant a number of the labourers, many of them on fire, had to jump from windows to escape.
Two leaseholders of the villa were later arrested for violating Dubai’s health and safety regulations.
Following the inspections, carried out over recent months, labour camps that failed to supply fire extinguishers and provide labourers with clear fire exit signs were considered serious offenders and given a three-month probation period.
Serious violations include faulty electrical and gas fittings and the use of asbestos materials.
Redah Salman, the director of public health for Dubai Municipality, said: “We have finished our health and safety survey of all labour camps and a number of temporary on-site camps will be closed down for failing their health and safety and have been served their three months’ notice.
“Those who were not serious violators and only failed a few check points were given six- [month] to one-year probation.”
Mr Salman said some labour camps had been closed immediately, but he did not specify whether they were temporary or permanent sites.
Both had been included in the total figure of violators, he said.
On-site labour camps are temporary accommodations erected around building sites.
Dubai Municipality is planning to have all labour camps officially certified and pass the required safety checks by 2010.
“Depending on the labour camp, notices ranged from three, six and 12 months depending on their current state and facilities they provide for their labourers,” Mr Salman said.
“Those who have good facilities but failed on minor points have been given 12 months to get it right,” Mr Salman said.
A number of permanent labour camps issued with six-month probation periods to improve health and safety standards will be forced to close if they fail any future inspections.
“We need 75 to 80 per cent of labour camps to meet municipality standards,” Mr Salman said. “Currently, only 60 per cent meet the standards.”
There are 406 permanent labour camps in Dubai, with a combined total of 32,000 rooms housing 148,000 labourers. There are 110 temporary labour camps housing up to 110,000 workers in 58,000 rooms.
In Jebel Ali, 99,000 labourers are housed in 15,000 rooms at 115 labour camps, while 69 labour camps in Isthtismar house 42,000 labourers. This does not include Sharjah, Ajman and other emirates that house labourers employed in Dubai.
“We have 333 labour camps for women, some of which also failed to meet the basic health and safety requirements,” Mr Salman said.
The health and fire safety checks were carried out in conjunction with Dubai Civil Defence.
Ensuring the safety of labourers while they were at their camp was of the utmost importance, a Civil Defence spokesman said.
“We looked at fire exit signs, fire extinguishers and dangerous material that could cause a fire,” the spokesman said.
In 2007, Dubai Municipality introduced improvements to the list of specifications for labour camps being built in the emirate.
They included providing at least 40 square feet (3.7 square metres) of space for every labourer staying in the accommodation and at least one bathroom for every eight labourers, the maximum number of workers that can be accommodated in one room.