No laborers working on Qatar’s World Cup stadium projects have died because of industrial accidents or injury, tournament chief Hassan al-Thawadi said on Monday.
Speaking at a press briefing for foreign reporters in Doha, al-Thawadi said that work has been carried out so far on beginning to build or revamp five stadiums in preparation for soccer’s biggest competition, which will take place in the tiny Gulf state in 2022.
“We have had about 4.8 million working hours. We’ve got about just over 2,500 workers and about five stadiums — we are at the early stages of construction,” al-Thawadi said. “The World Cup stadium projects that we are responsible for, there have been no fatalities and no major injuries as well.”
Up to 12 stadiums are to be used for the tournament.
Al-Thawadi’s comments come amid concerns over the treatment of tens of thousands of migrant laborers working on infrastructure projects and facilities for the World Cup in seven years’ time.
Last year it was claimed that Nepalese workers building infrastructure — not stadiums — in Qatar were dying at the rate of one every two days because of poor working practices in searing hot temperatures.
One claim last year estimated that as many as 4,000 migrant workers would die by the time the tournament takes place.
Qatar’s labor minister said on Monday he hopes the nation’s controversial kafala system, which critics have likened to modern-day slavery, would be abolished before the end of this year.
Qatari Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Abdullah bin Saleh al-Khulaifi said he is “90 percent” certain the system would be replaced within the next seven months.
“I hope it will be prior to the year end,” al-Khulaifi said. “We discussed it, our stakeholders have looked at it... Now it is on track. Do I believe it will come out positively? Yes I do, because at the end of the day I believe it is good for the economy, it’s good for the country.”
Asked if the scheme would be abolished by the end of the year, al-Khulaifi replied: “I am 90 percent hopeful or believe that it will be.”
Under kafala, employers can prevent foreign workers from changing jobs or leaving the country. Long condemned by rights groups, the system has become a major focus of criticism since Qatar was awarded the World Cup, as the country’s labor laws come under increasing international scrutiny.
Abolition of kafala would represent the biggest reform of Qatar’s labor market.
Doha says it plans to replace the system with one based instead on employment contracts. The contracts would last a maximum of five years and the current exit permit system would be replaced with one where workers give the authorities a maximum of 72 hours’ notice that they want to leave the country.
Al- Khulaifi also said Qatar would fully implement another major labor reform — an electronic payment system for thousands of migrant laborers — by mid-August.
That would ensure that up to 1 million workers get paid at least once a month and, in some cases, every two weeks.
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