Dubai:
Construction on a building expected to be the world's
tallest was interrupted today after Asian workers angered by
low salaries and mistreatment rioted, smashing cars and
offices and causing what a government official said almost US
$1 million in damage.
The
stoppage also triggered a sympathy strike at Dubai
International Airport today, when thousands of laborers
building a massive new terminal also laid down their tools,
airport and labour officials said.
Some
2,500 workers on the emerging Burj Dubai Tower and surrounding
housing developments chased and beat security officers last
night, broke into temporary offices and smashed computers and
files, and destroyed about two dozen cars and construction
machines, witnesses said.
The
initial riot was caused by workers angered because buses to
their residential camp were delayed after their shifts,
witnesses at the site said.
An
Interior Ministry official who investigates labour issues, Lt.
Col. Rashid Bakhit Al Jumairi, said the rioters caused almost
US $1 million in damage.
The
workers, employed by Dubai-based construction firm Al Naboodah
Laing O'Rourke, returned to the vast site today but refused to
work.
The
protesting workers are among almost a million migrants from
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China and elsewhere who have
poured into Dubai to provide the low-wage muscle behind one of
the world's great building
booms.