Dubai Metro Construction
As I was wandering by Bur Juman, one of Dubai's many malls, I could see a vast array of earth boring equipment for the new Metro. Only none of it was operating. As opposed to the construction next to my flat, where work starts promptly (and noisily) at 6:00 a.m., 7 days a week, and only stops for the Friday Juma prayer. (Actually, Juma means Friday, so that's redundant, but Juma also refers to the Friday noon prayer, in which case both 'Friday' and 'prayer' are redundant.)
The UAE is planning to switch to a Friday/Saturday weekend soon, which will apply to government workers, which the metro workers may well be. Which might explain why the equipment was inactive Saturday morning.
Non-government workers, such as those constructing the new building outside my flat, are legally limited to 8 hour days and a six day week. With shifts (or voluntary overtime) many establishments manage to operate 24/7. (Work outside my flat does stop for the legally required 'noon break,' the hottest 2½ hours in the day, and from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m..)
However, by Zabeel Park, next to the 'Metro' sign, a few workers were langourously moving their long-handled shovels in the 40° heat. It isn't clear why. Or even if they were Metro workers. But I suspect that they were: using long-handled shovels saves wear and tear on the expensive equipment.
Throughout the Orient, there is the unassailable belief that cheap labour is more cost-effective than capital, in spite of all the economic evidence to the contrary. In the West, they have the name 'Luddites' for the sect who thought capital should be banned if it displaced labour. The West has the name 'Luddites' because they represent a small, failed group. If the word 'Luddite' exists at all in an Oriental language, it only refers to the European sect, since, in the Orient, the Luddite concept represents the majority opinion, and there is no special word, in any language, for the majority opinion.
So, Saturday morning, the state-of-the-art equipment sat idle while workers stood with long-handled shovels working by the 'Dubai Metro Under Construction' sign.
The UAE is planning to switch to a Friday/Saturday weekend soon, which will apply to government workers, which the metro workers may well be. Which might explain why the equipment was inactive Saturday morning.
Non-government workers, such as those constructing the new building outside my flat, are legally limited to 8 hour days and a six day week. With shifts (or voluntary overtime) many establishments manage to operate 24/7. (Work outside my flat does stop for the legally required 'noon break,' the hottest 2½ hours in the day, and from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m..)
However, by Zabeel Park, next to the 'Metro' sign, a few workers were langourously moving their long-handled shovels in the 40° heat. It isn't clear why. Or even if they were Metro workers. But I suspect that they were: using long-handled shovels saves wear and tear on the expensive equipment.
Throughout the Orient, there is the unassailable belief that cheap labour is more cost-effective than capital, in spite of all the economic evidence to the contrary. In the West, they have the name 'Luddites' for the sect who thought capital should be banned if it displaced labour. The West has the name 'Luddites' because they represent a small, failed group. If the word 'Luddite' exists at all in an Oriental language, it only refers to the European sect, since, in the Orient, the Luddite concept represents the majority opinion, and there is no special word, in any language, for the majority opinion.
So, Saturday morning, the state-of-the-art equipment sat idle while workers stood with long-handled shovels working by the 'Dubai Metro Under Construction' sign.
posted by Dubai@Random at 9:30 pm
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