TDIC refutes claims made in Human Rights Watch report

ABU DHABI // Criticism in a report on labour employment practices on Saadiyat Island is unfounded and outdated, the developer of projects on the island has said.

Some employers on Saadiyat were withholding wages, failing to reimburse recruitment fees and withholding workers’ passports, said the report by Human Rights Watch, which is based in New York.

The group said it had been refused access to building sites and that its report was based on the accounts of 116 current and former employees of contractors.

However, the developer, the Tourism Development and Investment Company, said that companies working on projects on Saadiyat had to observe strict employment standards.

It said the penalties for breaching the regulations were listed in TDIC’s employment practices policy.

TDIC said the policy was subject to an annual audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The findings of the latest audit, published last December, was based on interviews with 1,050 workers.

PwC found significant improvements in labour employment practices.

All the workers interviewed said they had access to their passport and medical insurance, and 99 per cent were aware of an enforced system of penalties against contractors who breached TDIC’s employment policy.

TDIC said it would continue to improve labourers’ working conditions and had hired PwC to ensure that companies were in compliance of its policy.

The Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation, which has a museum being built on Saadiyat, said it was committed to adhering to TDIC’s efforts to improve employment conditions.

Although work on its museum had yet to begin, the foundation said it had sent representatives to the Saadiyat Accommodation Village on several occasions and were satisfied with TDIC’s efforts.