How Cambodian workers risk their lives in China-funded construction boom, toiling for $13.50 a day

When Sam Sok took a US$6-a-day (S$8.15) job as a construction labourer in Sihanoukville she knew it could be dangerous, but the deaths of 28 workers in a building collapse - with her nephew among the missing - have laid bare the risks many like her face to earn a living.

She left her eight-year-old son with neighbours more than 100km, one of thousands pushed by poverty seeking to cash in on the once sleepy seaside town's Chinese-funded construction boom.

The work is mostly unregulated, low paid, often dangerous - and sometimes deadly.

"We do this because of money but now … we are afraid that we might meet the same unfortunate end," the 32-year-old said.

"We work in fear now," she said, from a hospital in Sihanoukville, where she was searching for her missing nephew.

Many were buried in their sleep when the Chinese-owned building - which was still under construction - crumbled before dawn on Saturday, and she fears her nephew was among them.

Like most migrant workers, the labourers lived in the structure they were building, having travelled far from home to earn a bit of cash to get by.

Several Chinese nationals face manslaughter charges over the incident.

[[nid:451006]]

Like so many others, Sam Sok chased rumours of riches in Sihanoukville, having heard from villagers in her hometown about the money to be made.

She earned US$6 a day ferrying metal and wooden planks at different sites in the fast-booming city, where dozens of Chinese-funded casinos and hotels are being built to serve a mushrooming tourism industry fuelled by visitors from China.

With wages reaching as high as US$10 per day, the money is often better than what workers could make on a farm or even in a factory.

Cambodia's per capita GDP has climbed in recent years as the economy slowly shifts from agricultural to industrial - with many workers now finding work in the garment and services sector - and opportunities in the construction sector are multiplying quickly.

But the World Bank still classifies about a third of the country as "near poor", and the average annual income is around US$1,380, lower than many of its Mekong neighbours.

Chinese investment has helped propel the shift away from agriculture, pouring money into new roads, new ports and new buildings across Cambodia, a strategically important Southeast Asian ally for Beijing.

But that building frenzy has also sparked concerns about substandard safety regulations in a country where most of the 200,000 construction workers have few legal protections.

The majority are day labourers, do not belong to unions, and are not protected by minimum wage laws, according to the International Labour Organisation.

Building owners often flout safety measures, taking short cuts that could lead to accidents, said Kong Athit, secretary general of the Cambodian Labour Confederation.

"It's the responsibility of the owners and the government that they must take a serious pre-check before allowing any construction of a building to start," Athit said.

Construction worker Khmao said he was given almost no safety equipment at the site in Sihanoukville where he carried bricks.

He was sleeping about 100 metres from the site of the collapsed building when he was shaken awake.

"I only have a helmet, no mask, and I'm concerned about my safety," he said.

"I want to go home but I don't have money," added the 36-year-old, who travelled more than 300 kilometres from eastern Prey Veng province to earn US$10 a day on a Chinese-owned site.

Cambodia's prime minister Hun Sen has blamed Saturday's fatal accident on careless oversight, prompting a senior official to be sacked and another to resign. He also handed out cash compensation of between US$10,000 to US$70,000 to families of victims and the survivors.

Seven people, including five Chinese nationals, have been charged with manslaughter or as accomplices in connection to the accident.

For some, Saturday's accident was enough to turn them off risky construction work for life.

"I will never be a construction worker again," said Ros Sitha, who survived two days in the rubble before he was miraculously rescued on Monday, weak and bruised.

He got US$30,000 from Hun Sen and now plans to go back to his village in Prey Veng province.

"I didn't expect I would survive, I've been reborn," he said.