CAMBODIA WORKERS RISK LIVES FOR ‘RICHES’
Construction frenzy sparks concerns about sub-standard safety regulations
WHEN Sam Sok took a US$6 (RM25)-a-day job as a construction labourer here, she knew it could be dangerous, but the deaths of 28 workers in a building collapse — with her nephew among the missing — has laid bare the risks many like her face to earn a living.
She left her 8-year-old son with neighbours more than 100km away, one of thousands pushed by poverty seeking to cash in on the once sleepy seaside town’s Chinese-funded construction boom.
The work is mostly unregulated, low paid, often dangerous — and sometimes deadly.
“We do this because of money but now... we are afraid that we might meet the same unfortunate end,” she said.
“We work in fear now,” she said, from a hospital here, where she was searching for her missing nephew.
Many were buried in their sleep when the Chinese-owned building, which was still under construction, crumbled before dawn on Saturday, and she feared her nephew was among them.
Like most migrant workers, labourers lived in the structure they were building, having travelled far from home to earn a bit of cash to get by.
Several Chinese nationals face manslaughter charges over the incident.
Like so many others, Sam Sok chased rumours of riches here, having heard from villagers in her hometown about the money to be made.
She earned US$6 a day ferrying metal and wooden planks at different sites in the fast-booming city, where dozens of Chinesefunded casinos and hotels are being built to serve a mushrooming tourist industry fuelled by visitors from the mainland.
With day wages reaching as high as US$10, the money is often better than what workers could make on a farm or even in a factory.
Cambodia’s per capita gross domestic product has climbed in recent years as the economy slowly shifts from agricultural to industrial — with many workers now finding work in the garment and services sector — and opportunities in the construction sector are multiplying quickly.
But the World Bank still classifies about a third of the country as “near poor”, and the average annual income is around US$1,380, lower than many of its Mekong neighbours.
Chinese investment has helped propel the shift away from agriculture, pouring money into new roads, new ports and new buildings across Cambodia, a strategically important Southeast Asian ally for Beijing.
But that building frenzy has also sparked concerns about substandard safety regulations in a country where most of Cambodia’s 200,000 construction workers have few legal protections.
The majority are day-labourers, who don’t belong to unions and aren’t protected by minimum wage laws, according to the International Labour Organisation.
Building owners often flout safety measures, taking shortcuts that could lead to accidents, said Kong Athit, secretary-general of the Cambodian Labour Confederation.
“It’s the responsibility of the owners and the government that they must take a serious precheck before allowing any construction of a building to start.”
Construction worker Khmao said he was given almost no safety equipment at the site here where he carried bricks.
He was sleeping about 100m from the site of the collapsed building when he was shaken awake.
“I only have a helmet, no mask, and I’m concerned about my safety.
“I want to go home, but I don’t have money,” said Khmoa, who travelled more than 300km from eastern Prey Veng province to earn US$10 a day on a Chineseowned site.
Prime Minister Hun Sen had blamed Saturday’s fatal accident on careless oversight, prompting a senior official to be sacked and another to resign. He also handed out cash compensation of between US$10,000 and US$70,000 to families of victims and survivors.
Seven people, including five Chinese nationals, have been charged with manslaughter or as accomplices in connection to the accident.
For some, Saturday’s accident was enough to turn them off risky construction work for life.
“I will never be a construction worker again,” said Ros Sitha, who survived two days in the rubble before he was miraculously rescued on Monday, weak and bruised.
He got US$30,000 from Hun Sen and now plans to go back to his village in Prey Veng province.
“I didn’t expect I would survive, I’ve been reborn,” he said.