Sittwe: Day labourers have been working overtime on the construction of the Ann-Sittwe railway route, but have not yet received adequate compensation for the extra work they put in.
A worker from the construction site said, "We asked for wages from the contractors of the company for overtime, but they denied us the money. We have to work two hours overtime every day, but we have not yet received wages for the overtime."
The Ann-Sittwe railway route is being constructed by companies from Rangoon, with the help of local day labourers, after the companies got the contract for the work from the military government.
The government authority recently pressurized the companies to complete some sections of the railway near Sittwe, in a short time, so the companies have forced the day labourers to work overtime.
"We are now working on the construction of the railway route phase between Sittwe and the technical college. The authority wants the route to be completed, within the first two weeks of May, so the company used our labour for two hours extra every day," the worker said.
At the railway construction site there is a work timetable for the day labourers, which lists the scheduled work day as 7 am to 5 pm daily. However, the workers are required to work until 7 pm everyday.
"Our wage is only Kyat 1500 per day, but we receive only Kyat 1400. Kyat 100 is taken by the worker leaders for a workers fund. However, we have not been receiving our wages everyday. Even though we are day labourers, we receive our wages every five days," he said.
According to labour sources, the day labourers, most of whom are women, are doing manual tasks at many construction sites, including carrying stones, digging the soil, crushing stones, and transporting materials from one site to another.
The military authority has instructed the companies, working on the railway route, to finish the work before the rainy season begins this year. Due to this, early deadline, the companies have been working labourers overtime to complete the task.
