Head of the Turkish Cypriot Contractors Association, Osman Amca, pointed out that the number of qualified workers in the construction sector has decreased recently and that employers are hiring anyone they find.
Amca stated that workers used to come from Türkiye, but recently, many people have started to bring workers from third-world countries.
He said that these people have begun working in the industry sector and work accidents are taking place because they do not know how to protect themselves as they are not experienced.
Amca noted that currently, the daily wage of workers here is 2,000 TL which is the same in Türkiye. “Wages here are low and it is the same in Türkiye. There is nothing attractive about this place anymore, why would they come here?” he was cited as saying.
He also stated that an industry in North Cyprus is growing where workers are being brought to the country. Amca reminded that, as a union, they are trying to create a monitoring mechanism to see where these people are working, and how much they are working for, and that a meeting was held with the prime minister for this purpose. Amca emphasized that these forces that bring workers to the country are hindering the situation. “We are tackling both the problems related to the sector and those who are getting an unearned income from this business,” Amca said.
“AGENCIES SHOULD BE BRINGING WORKERS FROM ABROAD”
Osman Amca also said that agencies should be bringing the workers coming from abroad and said, “Those who profit from each worker they bring over to the country should take responsibility and put forward serious guarantees.”
(Source: Yeni bakış Gazetesi)
