Delicious curries and clean, spacious accommodation were on display this week at a large workers’ camp in Qatar as one of the country’s biggest construction clients sought to show an international delegation that not all migrant labourers live in squalid conditions, writes Rod Sweet, attending the CIOB’s members conference in Qatar.
We were driven by bus to the camp, located in the city of Al Khor, 50km from our hotel in Doha, and led through selected rooms. The tour began at around 2.30pm on Sunday, with no construction workers present at the time.
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The camp is operated by QDVC, a joint venture between state-owned developer Qatari Diar and French contractor Vinci Construction Grands Projets. In June 2013, QDVC won a $2bn contract to complete civil works for the southern part of Doha Metro’s Red Line.
Some of the workers at the camp, who come from India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, as well as other Arab states, are working on the Red Line, and some work on other QDVC projects.
Furniture in the foremen’s rooms (Rod Sweet)
Our tour was organised by Stephen Lines, senior commercial manager for Qatar Rail, which is QDVC’s client on the Doha Metro project, and one of the largest construction clients in Qatar. Lines was keen to make the point that not all employers in Qatar can be “tarred with the same brush”. He was referring to articles published in the UK’s Guardian newspaper last year, and a report by Amnesty International released in November, that highlighted instances of harsh conditions and mistreatment of Qatar’s migrant workforce.
The prefabricated accommodation we saw was ageing but in sound condition. The rooms were tidy, clean – the smell of cleaning agents was strong – and spacious. The quarters for site foremen had one or two beds per room, with other basic furniture, and more junior workers had three beds per room.
