Diamniadio Senegal: When Mohamed was hired at the construction site for the United Nations’ new West Africa headquarters in Senegal, he was proud to say he would be working “not only for Africa, but for the world.”
The 25-year-old Sierra Leonean was a plumber on the site, the centrepiece of what is intended to be a futuristic city boasting an Olympic stadium, ministries and a commuter train line running 40 kilometres (25 miles) to the capital Dakar. Wretched life of migrants building
But nine months ago, Mohamed’s dreams evaporated when an air conditioner he was installing fell on his hands, slicing off part of a finger and damaging a thumb.
No longer so dextrous, he says he was fired without pay and unable to find steady work. Wretched life of migrants building
His tale is far from unique.
Young men from Sierra Leone, Guinea and even distant Nigeria have flocked to Diamniadio, lured by the vision of a decent job and pay in a stable currency. They are among thousands of labourers toiling on construction sites across the budding city.
AFP spoke to more than a dozen migrant workers.
Each recounted a life of extreme hardship, living in decrepit shared accommodation hours from the construction sites, working endless days for minimum pay, and haunted by fear of injury that could leave them penniless.
“They told us that our salary is the price of our soul… In a word, it is slavery,” said Alpha, a Guinean steel erector. Like all the workers AFP met, his family name is being kept anonymous, and his first name has been changed.
The Chinese-owned firm WIETC, at the centre of many of their accusations, denied any abuse and said it stringently upheld Senegal’s laws.
13-hour days
Over the past decade, a once-fertile agricultural zone in Diamniadio has been replaced by massive construction sites, a project spearheaded by President Macky Sall to ease congestion in Dakar and modernise Senegal’s image.
The UN office, a public-private partnership between Senegalese entities, is a dramatic 60,000-square-metre (650,000 square-feet) structure in the shape of a whirling star.
It is one of the new city’s keystone projects, along with the Dakar Diamniadio Sports City, a private project that will feature a luxury hotel, restaurants and shops.
But labourers who had worked on both sites told AFP they often worked there as many as 13 hours a day, seven days a week, and were paid the equivalent of about $7 per day or less.
The Senegalese labour code stipulates one 24-hour period off per week. The minimum wage for low-skilled labourers in Senegal’s construction industry ranges from 378 CFA ($0.60) to 658 CFA ($1.04) per hour.
“These are obviously inhumane conditions,” said Seydi Gassama, head of Amnesty International in Senegal. “All workers should be able to work and have days off, whether they are Senegalese or international citizens.”
Some said they walked as much as two hours each way to get to work.
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