AMMAN — The annual report issued by
Better Work-Jordan of the
International Labor Organization revealed that 36 percent of
the 88 factories covered by the program do not meet the minimum requirement for
public space and safety in dwellings, where approximately 45,000 migrant
workers, the majority of whom are Asians, live in 200-300 houses, according to
Al-Ghad News.
اضافة اعلان
At a meeting last week
to discuss its annual report, the committee stressed the importance of improving the structural integrity of workers’
housing in the garment industry as a key element in the well-being, health and
safety of employees, indicating that it would make upgrading workers' housing a
priority.
In 2020, Better Work-
Jordan, hired an engineering consulting firm to assist in the structural
integrity of a sample of 14 housing blocks with more than 45,000 workers, in
addition to identifying the required improvements as well as proposing
instructions for future housing construction.
The consultants had identified several housing problems, and the program
was working on a strategy to address them.
"Inspection teams
noted irregularities in labor housing, including the use of premises not
licensed by the Jordanian government," said the director of the Inspection
Directorate of the Ministry of Labor, Haitham Al-Najdawi.
The meeting addressed
a memorandum of understanding signed between Better Work-Jordan and the
Jordan Chamber of Commerce with a view to cooperate to advance the performance and
competitiveness of garment factories and to improve their compliance with the labor
law and the International Labor Organization’s standards.
The discussions and
decisions of the Advisory Project Committee have far-reaching implications for
Jordan's garment industry, which has experienced significant growth in the past
10 years, with exports in 2020 amounting to some $1.6 billion, accounting for
22 percent of the country's total exports.
The annual report of
the Better Work program identified several problems in a sample of buildings
surveyed as part of the initial phase of the project, including the number of
water tanks on top of the buildings (too heavy for buildings in addition to
insufficient emergency exits).
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