What Is An Expat?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7085597.stm

A bridge under construction has collapsed in Dubai, killing seven workers and injuring 15, police said.

The bridge was being built in Dubai Marina, a new development in the United Arab Emirates city which is a regional business and tourism hub.

A large number of ambulances were driving to the scene of the accident.

Dubai’s economy has boomed in recent years, fuelled largely by a construction industry reliant on low-paid workers, many from South Asia.

More than 40 labourers were working on the bridge at the time of the collapse, police said.

This is a shame. You have sooo much construction going on in Dubai and such poor standards that things like this happen far too often. Add in the fact that the workers often get paid late or not at all, and precious little in the first place while paying an agent an exorbitant fee to get them a visa and a job in the first place. Then they find that they don’t get paid what they were told and owe a hefty sum while the contractor holds their passport, so even if they could scrape up the money they couldn’t leave.

Dubai has many things going for it, but humane treatment of the workers building it sure isn’t one of them.

One of the buildings under construction caught fire this morning. It’s two buildings away from where I work. Here’s the long range view, where we weren’t quite sure exactly which one it was yet.

A couple of shots from around the back. We couldn’t quite get me dropped off at the normal place as the roads were blocked off and some cars were actually flowing back out the wrong way.

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