Wouldn't the mall and shop owners object if even only ten percent of the people gathering around al-ghanem bus station on any given Friday afternoon enter the City Center or Villagio as most probably it will 'scare' the family off and like it or not they are the ones that spend the money shopping.
I think this issue is a side effect of the build-with-cheap-expatriate-labor policy prevalent in the gulf countries. Once the genie is out, it become a viscious cycle : male labor can not bring their family (for fear that it will create housing ghettos)--> gender imbalance among population --> scare off those lucky enough to have their families here -->etc.
What should be done? One possibility is limiting the intake of 'cheap expatriate' and only allow those really skilled tradesmen. I mean like those bricklayers that can build a 3 br house in less than a week in western countries. Of course they will expect to be paid 300 riyals PER HOUR instead of 600 per month. Over time, this will lessen the stratified nature of the society as we see it today.
On the other hand, of course it will raise the cost of service for the lucky ones including some of us. Do you really want to pay the western standard minimum wage for your maids and drivers? Certainly it will create less demand for low-paid workers and what will happen to them and million of their families if they are all sent home ???
The world is a complicated place and I can only rumble about it.....
Wouldn't the mall and shop owners object if even only ten percent of the people gathering around al-ghanem bus station on any given Friday afternoon enter the City Center or Villagio as most probably it will 'scare' the family off and like it or not they are the ones that spend the money shopping.
I think this issue is a side effect of the build-with-cheap-expatriate-labor policy prevalent in the gulf countries. Once the genie is out, it become a viscious cycle : male labor can not bring their family (for fear that it will create housing ghettos)--> gender imbalance among population --> scare off those lucky enough to have their families here -->etc.
What should be done? One possibility is limiting the intake of 'cheap expatriate' and only allow those really skilled tradesmen. I mean like those bricklayers that can build a 3 br house in less than a week in western countries. Of course they will expect to be paid 300 riyals PER HOUR instead of 600 per month. Over time, this will lessen the stratified nature of the society as we see it today.
On the other hand, of course it will raise the cost of service for the lucky ones including some of us. Do you really want to pay the western standard minimum wage for your maids and drivers? Certainly it will create less demand for low-paid workers and what will happen to them and million of their families if they are all sent home ???
The world is a complicated place and I can only rumble about it.....
SK