UAE To Monitor Construction Sites Via Satellite

EARTH OBSERVATION

Satellite view of Dubai, UAE.

by Staff Writers
Dubai (AFP) Jun 07, 2006
The UAE labour ministry will soon use high-resolution satellite imagery to monitor the country's big construction projects which have been the scene of several riots, newspapers reported Monday.

The ministry signed last week an agreement with leading international mapping and satellite imagery services provider Informap to monitor the sites, according to Emirates Today.

The new programme will help the ministry inspect the sites, it said.

Dubai, the commercial hub of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is in the midst of a massive infrastructure development and construction drive largely fueled by thousands of Asian labourers mainly from India and Pakistan.

Protests by labourers demanding back-pay or better salary and living conditions have become frequent in Dubai following two major riots at two high profile sites in April and March.

Demonstrations and unions are illegal in the UAE and the government has taken a very tough stance towards violaters, threatening deportation.

In late May, the ministry deported 86 striking construction workers who allegedly incited and threatened about 8,000 of their co-workers not to call off a walk-out they had started, according to another local paper 7 Days.

The ministry has been dismissive of accusations by international rights groups over abusive labour practices in the UAE while announcing that a plan to improve the lot of foreign labourers was being studied.

Source: Agence France-Presse

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