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‘Loaded’ by traffic woes

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ABU DHABI — Road rage, traffic jams and hot weather irk 35-year-old Mohammed Saleem from Kerala, India, who has been working as a loader with Al Ahlia Group in Abu Dhabi for the past eight years. He is delighted with his job, but complains of shrinking savings due to the rising cost of living.

Published: Sat 6 Oct 2007, 8:58 AM

Updated: Sun 5 Apr 2015, 4:45 AM

  • By
  • Anwar Ahmad (A day in the life of...)

SaleemHis duty is to load the goods early in the morning from the company’s stores as per the orders from supermarkets and groceries in the city. Then he and his colleague, Mohammed Humayoun from Bangladesh, who is working with the company for past one year, go around the city delivering orders at various places.

Preparation at dawn

He begins his day at 5.00am as he has to be at the work site for loading goods in the van at 6.30am. After loading the goods he takes to the road to deliver them at stores, supermarkets and groceries till 7.00pm or 8.00pm everyday.

“I am happy with my job but I feel troubled with the rising prices of edible commodities and spiralling accommodation rents. I earn a monthly salary of Dh1,800. But I don’t find it sufficient to meet my requirements here and back home,” says Saleem. “Out of my earnings, I save a meagre amount to send to my family every month,” he says.

He complains that his delivery van does not have an air-conditioner and he has to travel long distances in the scorching weather. During Ramadan, he also fasts. “It is a good thing in our profession that I get an opportunity to interact with people at various shops. This interaction creates a bond among us. We exchange information about our roots back home. It also serves as a ‘leisure activitiy’ for me. In the beginning it was tough. Things settled and I started enjoying my work,” he says.

What irks him?

“From early morning I start my work of delivering goods at different places. I experience a lot of road rage in the mornings when everybody seems to be wanting to overtake every other vehicle on the roads. Same is the situation in the evening when the traffic is very bad,” says Saleem. Another problem which he complains of is that supermarket managers and shopkeepers expect him to carry the goods to the store room on the upper floor.

“It’s not my duty to carry the good upstairs or place them in their store rooms, but store-keepers pressurise me to do so,” he alleges.

Future plans

“After having spent eight years now, I want to return home and wish to start some business there,” says Saleem.



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