ABU DHABI // Workers say they are becoming sick from eating in filthy conditions outside their labour camps.
The labourers say the food they buy from restaurants is cheaper and more to their tastes than that offered by the camps.
But after restaurants provide it, workers are forced to eat on the streets in unsanitary surrounds as they are not allowed to take it into their accommodation.
One Bangladeshi building worker, 28, said he had become sick from eating in unhygienic conditions.
“Dirt gets into our food and you can see all the leftover food is scattered all around the place,” he said.
Indian mason R C, 45, said he had also become ill. He showed his gums, which were swollen.
“We have to go to the doctors because such food habits affect our health,” he said. “I have pains and can’t eat bread. I only eat rice, which I can swallow easily.
“If the food inside the camp was good, we would eat inside. The food inside the camp is not good, that’s why we eat outside.”
The restaurant food is often prepared in the evening then delivered to the workers next day, the mason said.
He said it cost Dh250 to have three meals a day provided for a month, and called on camp operators to let them bring food in.
Abu Dhabi Workers’ Village says it has levels of charges for meals, including one ranging from Dh260 to Dh400 a month.
It says workers are not allowed to bring food into the camps for health and hygiene reasons.
“If thousands of workers bring outside food into the camp they will scatter it all around the place and spread unhygienic conditions, which will be a threat to their health,” said Moataz Mashal, managing director of Al Barakah Investment, the camp’s operator.
Mr Mashal said if workers were allowed to bring in food they would do their own cooking, which is against the guidelines set by the Higher Corporation for Specialised Economic Zones.
He said the camp served nutritious food that was approved by the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, and certified by law.
Dr Atul Chawla, a specialist in gastroenterology at Abu Dhabi’s Burjeel Hospital, said eating in unhygienic conditions where flies and dust could get into food could cause ailments such as food poisoning and gastric diseases.
Dr Chawla said that workers should understand the health implications of eating this way and suggested that they needed compulsory food education.
“Food hygiene and healthy food habits are very important to stay fit and energetic,” he said.
Dr Chawla advised that because of the long, hot hours the labourers spent working, it was essential that they maintained a healthy diet.
anwar@thenational.ae
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Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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