Fenton Report Video

Friday, January 11, 2008

UAE Construction Workers



Migrant workers make up over 85% of the population of the UAE (United Arab Emirates), a booming construction area with dozens of large multi phase developments such in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and other emirates include projects such as the Burj Dubai, Ski Dubai, Dubailand and the Mall of Arabia. Migrant workers make up virtually every category of employee in the UAE from CEOs and engineers to cement mixers, drivers, accountants and janitors. Highly skilled and educated workers from western nations come to the Middle East for tax free income and often increased wages and opportunity. Most attention to migrant workers focuses on the manual laborers. Numbering over 300,000, manual laborers make up a large amount of the population. Attention has focused on these workers for their wages and working conditions which are generally poor by western standards.

Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and other wealth oil exporting nations also have large numbers of migrant workers who are mostly focused on building infrastructure and implementing the huge investments made by these countries. Workers come from all over the world in addition to the higher paid, educated and skilled workers from the UK, US, Ireland and throughout Europe and Asia, manual laborers come from Myanmar (Burma), India, Pakistan, Somalia or other countries. India and Pakistan also have a large number of highly skilled and highly paid workers.

Lack of unions and organized labor makes life for the construction workers very different from the US however most workers are very happy for the opportunity and the economics of wage equalization exist because of a very liberal work immigration policy and a robust economy.

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Tuesday, June 12, 2007

World's Fastest Growing City




Dubai City, Dubai is the world's fastest growing city. This video compares footage taken of Dubai City in Fall 2006 with footage taken in Spring 2007. In a matter of months, new buildings appear in the perpetually changing Dubai City skyline. Various news articles state that tens of thousands of construction cranes are currently in Dubai, reportedly up to a third of all of the cranes in the world. It is quite amazing to see the speed at which they are working. Recently the height of the Burj Dubai passed the 1,500 foot mark and today it continues to reach towards the sky. Dubai City is in a constant state of growth.

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Friday, June 8, 2007

Tallest Building in the World




The Burj Dubai has been designed to be the centerpiece of a large-scale, mixed-use development that will include 30,000 homes, nine hotels, 6 acres of parkland, 19+ residential towers, the Dubai Mall, and a large man-made lake. The complete 500 acre development will cost about $20 billion dollars (US). Once completed, the tower will cover a total of over 22 million square feet of development.

The official height of the Burj Dubai is kept secret because of international competition, but current estimates have it rising to a height in excess of 2,600 feet.

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Monday, April 16, 2007

Middle East 2.0 Dubai - World Business and Tourism hub




The Biggest Story in the World

Dubai City, Dubai - home of the world's largest construction site and one of the most amazing stories in our world today.While millions flock to Dubai annually, from an American perspective it's "the Middle East we don't know".

Still surrounded in misunderstanding by so many in the US, the massively positive story of Dubai and Middle East 2.0 is the real story of change in the Gulf. It is a story of peaceful, constructive excellence and the pursuit of dreams. A story very much in line with true American values.

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