The UAE hosts about 2.7 million expatriate workers, 80 per cent of whom are in the contracting sector.

The UAE, as a part of the GCC region, is witnessing a huge boom in the real estate sector, thanks to the huge returns from the oil sector. The estimates show that the number of workers in the UAE would double in the next five years - six million - in view of the rising number of real estate development projects.

A cross section of the contracting and construction companies Khaleej Times spoke with explained the problems they have been facing for years.

Rashad Mahmoud, an Egyptian partner of a construction company based in the capital, says, “I believe 65 per cent of the workers in the UAE are unskilled. This is because we used to demand more workers than we actually need when we have contracts since most of the workers we bring from Asian as well as Arab countries are unskilled.

“For instance, I had to deal with a carpenter from Syria. He had his experience certificates attested by the workers union in Syria but he had no experience at all in carpentry.

“Knowing this, when I need 100 workers, I would seek work permits for 150 people from the Ministry of Labour (MoL).”

Mohammad Omar, a Syrian sub-contractor, explains, “Hiring of unskilled workers has long-term effects in the labour market and economy. For the companies, it is a huge drain as they have to pay visa fees, provide accommodation, pay wages on time and give other benefits even though these workers might be useless for the job undertaken.”

The workers are brought through the manpower agencies in the labour-exporting countries.

“We have no mechanism to check their skills. The manpower agencies have only one aim - to collect money and gain profits. We should have a mechanism wherein we test the skills of the workers first,” says Omar.

Rafic Ali Suleiman, project manager of a leading contracting company, says the firms must be given the right to choose the skilled workers after bringing them into the country.

“We can identify whether a particular worker is skilled or not at first sight. Our company chooses only the experienced from those brought in,” says Suleiman.

Sub-contractors face several problems like missing the deadline for completing projects, forcing them to pay fines, as well as grapple with low quality of the finished works.

The unskilled workers also contribute to the phenomenon of illegals in the country as they abscond, searching for other work, when the firms reduce wages once they find the workers to be unskilled.

Ammar Al Sherief, A Palestinian sub-contractor, says workers coming from the GCC region are unskilled and they pay to travel to the UAE. The skilled workers would not leave their countries because they already have good opportunities back home.

“If the UAE does not address the problem of unskilled workers, their number might swell to six-seven million by 2009,” he says.

The labour ministers of the GCC states discussed the contractual labour issues during the recent Colombo Process meeting held in the capital. It was disclosed that there are around 12 million expatriate workers in the region currently and their number is estimated to go up to 30 million by 2010.

Benefits of experience

Contractors say the experienced and skilled workers would benefit the companies as they could complete tasks on time with the required quality.

“If I have a small project to complete, I apply to bring 20 workers because I am sure that most of them will not be skilled. I choose from them,” says Al Sherief.

“I can finish the same project with four skilled workers, paying Dh2,000-3000 per worker.”