L. Ramnarayan
and Shams Ahsan
Saudi Gazette
RIYADH — More than 1,800 people are working in the L&T Riyadh Metro project, said Palani Kumar, Manager for Health and Safety in the underground works of the project.
The Riyadh Metro project involves a consortia of Salini-Impregilo, Larsen & Toubro, and Nesma.
“For the project each of us have a visa quota, and accordingly we are distributing it. None of us have been allotted specific roles in the project, as all three consortiums share the work and altogether we have a workforce of 3,800,” Palani told Saudi Gazette.
Larsen and Toubro is handling 41 kilometer Line 3. Out of that six kilometers are underground. It is a single tunnel and diameter is 10.16 (outer) and 9 meter (inner) and we are following all international standards in the building process, he said.
To a question about the staff’s housing requirements, he said: “We have two camps. This one is called Namar camp which houses nearly 3,000 people. The other camp, which houses 800 people, is near the Saudi National Guard Hospital. However, that camp is near the end of the project.”
On the living condition in the camps: “You can see for yourself we have a good camp here. For workers we have a 5:1 ratio, for junior staff we have two people in a room and for senior staff a room is provided. In addition we cater to our staff needs to the best of our abilities. For example, we provide Indian food for Indians, Pakistani food for Pakistanis, Filipino food for Filipinos and even Middle Eastern fare. The company has hired chefs and they provide the variety. The menu is there and people are served their choice of food in this mess hall (where Modi met the Indian workers) and we pack the food for the people working on various sites and send it by our company vehicles.
“The main purpose of Modi’s visit is for our company to show to our prime minister what we’re doing for the workers and how well they are functioning.
When asked about his expectations from the prime minister or the Indian government, he said: “Sorry I don’t know. I’m here to do a job and I hope to complete it well.”
Have you faced any problems or injuries during this project. “InshaAllah, so far so good. We have come so far without injuries, and we hope we will continue in this way.
about the status of the project,he said: “We are going as per schedule. And as per the government’s schedule we have to finish by 2019. And we are on track to meet the deadline. And we have got terrific feedback from our client ADA, that the work on the line and the proposed 22 stations, out of which 8 are underground, is going smoothly.
“Though you are seeing only Indians today, we, however, work as a team. We have our standards, and during induction we drill into all these workers what the company expects of them, what facilities they will enjoy, and how and when they could execute the company’s plans and procedures. “We monitor closely whether the worker is following instructions or not. We re-instruct them with pep talks and communicate to them the progress and corrective measures if anything goes wrong. We interact with the workers and carry forward.
