Construction sector workers: a life lived on scaffolding and in shipping containers

Mama Samba Baldé came from Bafatá, in eastern Guinea Bissau, in search of a dream. The unstable political, social and economic situation in his home country forced him to make his way to Cape Verde in search of a better tomorrow. But this dream, which is turning into a nightmare in Cape Verde, has its fulfillment far away, in the Europe of which he has heard of in the tales told by friends and relatives and in the broadcasts he listens to on the radio he shares with his colleagues. In truth, Baldé knows practically nothing of this Europe he’s heard so much about. All he knows is that you earn more and that foreigners are treated better.

Mussá Touré came from Farim, in the north of Guinea Bissau, eight years ago. “This is what the life of an immigrant is like. Sometimes you think of things that don’t turn out the way you want. There are phases when things are better and others in which you have problems. But I haven’t felt any animosity directed at me since I’ve been here.”

Mussá works as a guard for a French diplomat, which is why his situation is more comfortable than that of most of his fellow countrymen here.

Nhambi Sanó also hails from Guinea Bissau, from the Gabu region in the east of the country. He works as a guard at a building under construction, where he lives, eats and spends his lonely days, accompanied in the evenings only by his Cape Verdean neighbor, who lives in a shipping container across the street in the neighborhood of Palmarejo. Speaking in a soft voice, he doesn’t complain about the hardships life has doled out to him, and he hopes to earn enough to be able to return to his country one day and build himself a house.

Vieux Candé is Senegalese, from the region of Kolda, and also works for a French diplomat. He’s been in Praia for two years and says he feels fine, despite the fact that life in Cape Verde is by no means easy. “Foreigners have a lot of difficulties here,” he affirms. Even so, he believes he must put up with this situation in order to earn enough to help his family in Senegal. He also speaks of the many individuals who sleep at their worksites or in shipping containers because they have no other solution given their low wages and high expenses.

DISCRIMINATION

But another Guinean, Iancuba Sanha, has a more radical vision of his life and that of his countrymen. According to him, people hailing from Guinea Bissau are the immigrants who suffer most in Praia. Sanhat says that when Guineans submit their documents to become legal residents, the paperwork is never processed and that, when they try to travel to their country to visit family or to spend their vacation, they’re fined for their lack of documents. This, says Iacuba, makes them lose the money they could have spent on the ticket. “This is abusive. At work, if you have a problem with a Cape Verdean, the police react against you.”

Sanha adds that in order to enter Cape Verde, African foreigners have to prove that they have one thousand euros, which is not the case with Cape Verdeans who travel to his country. “This is unfair,” he says. Sanha feels discriminated against and is outraged.

This sentiment is shared by Mama Samba Baldé. “In Guinea, we welcome everyone as if they were family. If we see a child on the street, we take him home and make him a part of our family. Here, we’re treated like garbage.”

Despite his outrage, Mama Samba Baldé is not yet considering going back to his home country, as he still has his dream to fulfill.

CAPE VERDEANS

But it would be wrong to think that foreigners are the only ones living in these conditions in Praia. A Semana came across Cape Verdeans in the same situation. Paulino, a father of eight, is a Praia native and lives in a shipping container. “I live in this container because I have nowhere else to stay. At night, when it rains, I have to have shelter. It’s also cold here, it’s near the sea.”

Paulino says he has nowhere else to live, unlike many of his work colleagues, who rent rooms or houses that, on the weekends at least, they can go back to.

Paulino, who is a bachelor, sleeps on a sheet of zinc covered with a wooden board. His nights are fitful, as he is constantly afraid of being robbed or trapped inside the container by someone, as the lock is located on the outside. “The boss didn’t even give us a guard booth for us to stay in, which would protect us better.”

Under such conditions, everyday hygiene is a complicated matter. He goes to the bathroom on a nearby outcrop of rocks, and he bathes in the street, using water given to him by people living in neighboring houses. Cooking is an endless headache.

Asked by A Semana’s reporters about union protection, Paulino said he has nothing, not even safety equipment such as boots, a helmet or a security vest. He works in his flip flops.

SURVEILLANCE

Surveillance of such worksites, carried out by the Labor Inspection Department, is criticized. Paulino says that the Labor Inspection Department visits the worksites and all appears to be going along smoothly. Even so, as workers are not directly asked about their working conditions, they say nothing, among other things because they are afraid of reprisals. Paulino says they’re scared of losing their jobs.

A Semana spoke with the Labor Department’s inspector general, Silvino Fernandes, who affirmed that “there is no discrimination in the law about being a foreigner, Cape Verdean or even an illegal immigrant.” Fernandes also says that employers are legally obliged to register their workers and insure them against accidents in the workplace, and stresses that there is a somewhat complicated situation provoked in part by workers themselves, who refuse to identify themselves or explain their work status. As a result, says Fernandes, the Labor Department is considering carrying out unannounced and “off-hours” inspections, in order to identify “non-legal” labor situations. In reality, many workers, especially foreigners, actually have two jobs. During the day they work in construction, and at night they work as guards, in order to save money and send it to their families. According to the law, guards must have a certain set of minimum working conditions, including a bathroom and a place to rest in the case of closed-off worksites. On sites in which construction is in its initial phase, guards cannot spend more than five hours on a single shift. The National Social Security Institute also says that outsourced workers must be insured. And, in cases of work accidents, the insurance company is responsible for investigating the occurrence. The National Social Security Institute’s Ruth Vasconcelos says that the law is clear: “even illegal immigrants have to be insured, as long as they present documents proving they’ve been in the country for three years or more.”

CRITICISM

The case of Zé, another Praia native, who is 22 and a father of two, is paradigmatic. He works during the day as a construction worker and at night as a guard. In other words, he works 24 hours a day. He sleeps in the basement of the building under construction, where he has no bathroom and no place to prepare his meals. The water he uses for his daily needs comes from the homes of nearby residents. Getting a good night’s sleep is out of the question.

Zé says that guards cannot sleep very deeply. Zé himself spends his nights with one eye open and the other closed. Indeed, he has no mattress and sometimes falls asleep on the hard ground. But his fear that something might happen while he is dozing keeps him alert, and he believes this is going to cost him when he is older. “That’s the way life is. It’s complicated to have to work by day and at night. But wages are so low I have to bear it.”

And the lyrics of a song by Guinea Bissauan musician Justino Delgado seems to fit his situation like a glove. “It’s better to go through these hardships than to have to steal to live.” This is how Zé sees things, and it’s why he accepts all these sacrifices - to support his mother and two children with the little he earns. But he dreams of being better off one day. What he wants least of all is to see his children hungry, out of school and without any health care.

Source;RamblerNews