Freelancing construction workers?



Imagine a UAE where construction workers can freelance and can count on receiving wages through direct deposit. That's the picture that Yusuf Abdl Ghani, the executive director of the Ministry of Labour, painted yesterday during a speech at the Construction Week magazine's GCC Leadership Summit.

He outlined the looser visa restrictions and direct deposit initiative discussed in a National story earlier this week, underlining the ministry's enforcement function in making sure workers get paid:

"The ministry will have direct online access to the deposit transactions and be able to monitor their dates and amounts to make sure they conform to terms of contracts and that no illegal deductions are made. Flagged transactions will trigger intervention by labor inspectors."

He also added that the new rules that allow workers to stay longer in the country after losing a job "will also promote flexible employment, including part time and temporary employment."

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013