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Dubai: A new section to monitor labour accommodations in the country has been established, said a senior ministry of labour official.
Humaid Bin Deemas, Acting Director General at the ministry, said during a press gathering that a new section has been set up to supervise the implementation of the "Manual of the General Criteria for Workers Accommodations".
"The main task of the new section will be to supervise the implementation of the new criteria for the labour accommodation in cooperation with other concerned bodies and private companies," said Bin Deemas.
The manual, which provides a unified rule for labour accommodations standards in the country including free zones, was approved by the cabinet in June.
The decision took effect at the beginning of this month and the companies are given a maximum of five years to either build new accommodations or upgrade the current ones to meet the new standards.
The new criteria will affect two million construction workers and was proposed by the ministry of labour to improve workers' living conditions.
The new section, which will supervise the implementation of the new criteria, will be part of the ministry's inspection department.
"The section is to create a complete database on all labour accommodations to facilitate the implementation of the decision," said Bin Deemas.
The section is also responsible for suggesting new rules and regulations which aim to contribute to the implementation of the new criteria, according to Bin Deemas.
Municipalities across the country will have to apply the new criteria. Earlier, each municipality used to follow its own criteria which resulted in different emirates having different labour accommodation standards.
The ministry is already coordinating with the various municipalities to find the best possible ways to implement the decision and they are already providing training and assistance for the municipalities' inspections.
Bin Deemas called on all companies to cooperate with the ministry to implement the new criteria and provide suitable accommodation for their workers.
"The quality of labour accommodations is one of our main priorities at the ministry and more emphasis will be put on this issue in the coming period," said Bin Deemas.
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