400 Dubai labour camps risk closure

DAMNING EVIDENCE: The deadly blaze at the Naif complex on Aug. 28 was a wake-up call for Dubai Municipality. (Getty Images)

More than 400 out of a total of 1,033 labour camps in Dubai face closure for failing to meet minimum health and fire safety standards, the UAE daily the National reported.

The annoucement of the enforcement measures follows the death of 11 men died in an early morning fire on Tuesday that engulfed a 30-room villa complex illegally housing up to 500 labourers.

Two leaseholders of the villa were later arrested for violating Dubai’s health and safety regulations.

A senior Dubai Municipality official said tha 40 percent of 1,033 permanent and temporary labour camps risked closure, the paper said.

Some of the labour camps inspected face immediate closure, while others have been issued with probation periods ranging from three months to one year, it added.

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, it said.

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, the paper reported.Serious violations include faulty electrical and gas fittings and the use of asbestos materials, the paper said.

It quoted Redah Salman, the director of public health for Dubai Municipality, as saying: "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."

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