Qatar opens ‘labour city’ for 100,000 workers
Gulf’s largest city for migrant workers has entertainment areas and a business district
Qatar has opened a 1.1 million sqm ‘city’ for labourers, which it says is the largest of its kind in the Gulf region.
The new Labour City, located in Musaismeer near the industrial zone, was inaugurated on Sunday by Qatari Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani, according to the state-owned Qatar News Agency.
Set to accommodate 100,000 workers, the new Labour City is divided into two parts. The first part is an entertainment and business district, which includes a market with 200 shops, a cricket ground, a theatre which can accommodate 17,000 people, and four cinema halls.
The second section contains 55 residential buildings with facilities including places of worship, a parking lot for buses, and a 2,000sqm medical clinic. In addition, a workers’ hospital is also under construction and set to be completed in the first quarter of next year, it was reported.
Qatar, which is set to play host to the FIFA World Cup 2022, has come under intense scrutiny over alleged mistreatment of workers employed on projects to build stadiums and associated infrastructure for the mega-event. The nation has been under fire for labour practices deemed unfair, like the ‘kafala’ sponsorship system.
In response to international criticism, the Gulf state has embarked on a series of reforms aimed at improving working conditions – such as the introduction of a Wage Protection System, which is to be enforced from November 2, and the blacklisting of over 800 firms said to be violating labour laws earlier this year.
