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Oula Gas Station – Inhumane Treatment

Posted by Z District

I got this in an email from a friend, and I’m shocked that any company can refuse an employee medical treatment for 2nd or 3rd degree burns such as this.

I saw this guy in “Oula” gas station in Kuwait City on march 8. I saw the Indian running over to fill my tank as I stepped outside, I saw the poor Indian’s hand and told him to back off; I will do the filling u just relax. I asked him a few questions about how and what happened to his hand.

This Indian employee accidentally burned his hand with hot cooking oil while cooking himself food at 1 am on the 3rd of March. He only had one day off which is the same day of the incident. Apparently the only reason he had a day off is to go to the doctor for checkup because his hand is very sore and it looked like a huge bubble growing within his hand. I spoke to the Kuwaiti man in charge and he said that he told the company that this man requires medical treatment but they haven’t allowed him to rest during this recovery period. He was there during the whole week working, and his hand was all puffed up and swollen and the puss burst from sores on his hand. He wasn’t able to move his hand at all but they refused him to take days off to recover. When he was trying to fill my gas tank his hand was shaking and he looks like he is in pain, and he is exposed to dangerous chemicals and his hand is in this state. He is on contract from Tanzifco to Oula gas station now I’m not sure who isn’t allowing him to take time off but this is a complete violation of human rights

I don’t know what exactly is the company policy but this is unacceptable in any human form. This man has 2nd to 3rd degree burns which may require major treatment or even skin grafting at the worst of it. Please keep in mind the pictures below are of graphic nature and not to everyone’s taste. I can’t believe any company would allow an employee in this state to continue working especially since his job is labor intensive.

UPDATE I: Click on GOOGLE MAPS for the location of the Gas Station. Its just by 1st ring road and Fahaheel Express Way (30), tucked on the right hand side just after crossing over 1st ring road while on Fahaheel Express Way (30) heading towards the city.

UPDATE II: Through a friend we were able to get to the Chairman/CEO of Tanzifco. He didn’t know of the issue and it will be investigated internally. They found the employee working at the Oula gas station that was mentioned above. They have now taken him from there and to have his hand checked, and he has been given two weeks off. Thank you all for your effort to help this man. A few friends and myself will be passing by today and every few days to fill up gas and to check and see if he is working or not. If anyone has an update on him when he gets back please do make sure to email me or comment please.

UPDATE III: Oula have responded [Link]

Posted by Z District

86 replies on “Oula Gas Station – Inhumane Treatment”

what the hell! i really feel so sad for the poor indian. by anychance do anyone know which gas station is it? i wanna submit a complaint!

Thanx for the post, but whn r we going to stop blaming other for what is happng to us. he is sick and if he doesn’t treat his hand really quickly, he might lose it. if the infection reach the bones then it’s over. i want to say, we have to stop being scared of loosing our job.. etc. We have to put our foot down, and when I’m sick, I should have all the right to be seen by specialest, if he go to the dr get the required treatment, get a sick note, send it to them., they will have no altarnative but to accept the fact that he is sick. If he will keep working and not looking after himself the big guys under the aircondition will never look after him.

It’s really sad to see how they’re abusing human rights.

They’re already suffering from extremely long working hours with little or no wages and poor services.

fucking modern day slavery

Nomaddia with all due respect you don’t know the circumstances of this person so you can not make this judgment call that he can easily lose his job. If he loses his job then he might get fired and deported, he may be in debt to get this job as you know they charge them to get jobs out their country. He may now know where to get medical attention, as you know that no foreigner can just walk into a hospital even if it is a medical emergency, they have to be transferred. And at this point he needs the rest for his hand. So in reality the company is held responsible for his well being during his long working hours.

It’s extremely sad that this kind of think still happens in Kuwait. I do not even understand why the administration could not give this poor man a week to recover! it would have not cost them much!

OMG the poor man must be in some serious amount of pain!

I one got a small hot oil burn in one of my fingers and it hurt like hell when the bubble burst FOR DAYS!!!

I cannot even imagine how the soul suffering 🙁 he needs to at least have some meebo cream on it so it won’t get infected… then again who is going to get him any meebo cream?

7ram walla 7ram :`( there should be some union or a place in q8 where they defend sick workers who cannot fend for themselves… even baristas and waiters cannot take a sick leave when they get sick or the flu so they would work while spreading their germs… thats both unsanitary and inhumane!!!

Z Distric, sorry if i sounded that i dont care about him and please don’t miss understand what I mean. i’m really angrey and feeling very sad for him and I diffenatly dont want him to loose his job. My point is, I want the owner of such companies stop treating others like slaves, and if everyone care about him/herself we r going to chane this stupid situation.

nomaddia, I can understand! I’m just really worked up and I want to do something about it and punch somebody really hard who doesn’t get it in their company! At times like these I find it acceptable to punch someone in the face very very hard!

Thanks Marzouq for passing this msg along, and Mark I’m so glad you posted those images. I would remove the warning sign prior to entering this post so that more people could see the inhumanity of the situation. Instead of filing a complaint or ranting I think we should personally go and take this guy to the hospital. I know where this place is I’ll go check up on him. I’m not sure how to go about it though, is it legal to pick him up and drive him away from his job?

thanx Marzouq, do u knw what upsets me and made me sound tough, that I worked in England for 7 years in a clinic and I saw how patients should be treated, and how important people’s life is, and you come here to see such a worker suffering and working with such dangours place with open wound and nothing has been done for him. if he keep thinking of loosing his job after loosing his hand he “will for sure” loose his job.

Thank u for ur understanding.

Thats a sad story, they should have given him days off for treatment. They cant deport him though, they will face problems finding a replacement, and buying him a ticket, which is a total cost of paying 6 employees each a monthly salary, his health comes first, he should have seeked treatment. I personally know a group of dedicated skin doctors in kuwait that treat for free, 3 to be exact, one of them being the brother of my auntie’s husband. They do it for humane purposes, health comes first. He just cannot be materialistic, people have burned their face, and I can provide some graphical photos that can show you what an oven can do to a beautiful girl, he should thank god it was his hands, and its his responsibility to look after his health. may god be with the poor people.

Poor guy .. If i was in kuwait right now i would have taken some pharmacist there to check on his hand and buy his medication :/

I bet a bunch of guys are now going like “Ya m3awwaaaaaaaaaaaaad haTHa hindi mo 2adami !!”

Ow . Fuck !
The state of Poor Indian labourers is becoming worser .

Just because he is an labourer , this cannot be done .
Somebody , please report to the necessary authorities .

Everybody is human . Let’s help each other .

Kuwait 101
Drinking=haram
Discos=haram
Treat people like shit=no problem
Having double standards=no problem

OMG, this is unacceptable. I think that the gas station could have helped the man by pushing the laborer company to immediately give him treatment. I’m sure that the guys in this small box house with the AC don’t give a damn about him. Mark & Marzouq, point us to the right direction so we can write a complaint or keep us updated if you are trying something on your side! thx

this happens everywhere…this happens not only to Indians…but really what can Kuwait Government do with this cases?

His company should’ve pay some sort of insurance/medical treatment perhaps…hope he will be ok since its one week now?????

HOW & WHERE CAN EXPATS REPORT SUCH CASES??? IS THERE ANY NON-GOVERNMENT ORG. HERE THAT DO HELP EXPATS WITH RELATED PROBLEMS? hope they dont need wasta to get through it…

what about government insurance ? that comes with residency ?

if he went to Mubarak Emergency, they should wrote him some rest days after dealing him, and that officially stamped paper by hospital, no one can ignore it, its in the labor law.

no matter his injury happened during or not his working hours

another solutions for some :

getta wo yeeb ghera !

Tanzifco?…..do you guys know that Tanzifco does not pay its employees on time?….I’m talking like months late!

Heartbreaking stuff that this should happen in a rich Muslim country like Kuwait. There is absolutely no excuse and I agree with so many here THIS IS MODERN DAY SLAVERY!!! Shame on the people responsible. I believe in divine retribution they will get their dues.
If you post the whereabouts of the gas station I will go over with some meebo cream, bandages and any help that I can offer. Poor, poor guy. Makes me sad and angry.

The problem here is not the owners or the guy with burns since there are many stories like this … the problem is that we lack “implemented” or “enforced” laws or rights for the people who come and work whether its in the gas station or even at homes … most are at the mercy of the employers and thats wrong … they don’t have working hours and days off (even if its on the contract) some people will not even give them the simplest rights such as having a phone to talk to friends …

Unfortunately and Fortunately (from a positive sense)… all Human rights efforts are individual efforts of people who care but where are the Human rights credited groups! and most importantly why do we have people that don’t believe in human rights in the first place running such group (not all groups)

I think its time to admit that we have a big human rights violations (am talking about all human right issues)… and stop pretending that this is a minority cause … NO its not …. if we love this country to pieces then we should raise our voices higher than those trying to destroy it …

We need more people like the child abuse group that young Kuwaiti drs started and now they were able to change a law to report any child abuse … we need to be more like that (self included) … and i guess this (blogs) are also a great start…

report this to some newspaper…or if someone works for one, run this story…
absolutely cruel how some companies treat poor labourers!

Wow.. so much fun “talking” about it…I feel the sympathy…. pretty intense!…

I like all the “tsk tsk” and the “harraam” gestures… but the fact of the matter is ..we like to talk about it… cause in reality there’s nothing we CAN do!

So..this was fun… must take more pictures and “tsk tsk” about it

The guy needs a break and needs immediate medical attention. He is very susceptible to infections at this stage! I hope some one reads this post and will give him the necessary leave and the treatment! At the same time I also pray that nothing happens to his job after some (#)&$)&@#& reads it.

I know a friend who works there and I contacted him about this manner, all what he said is that they cannot do anything because all the indians employees they have are contracted to AL KHARAFI

so blame AL KHARAFI I guess

This has to stop in Kuwait… Indians are no different from us… we are all created by God we all have feelings and are labeled Human!!!

Its very sad to see how Kuwaitis treat foreigners .. why is it based on nationality ? they didnt choose to be born in India .. and we didnt choose to be born in Kuwait and be Kuwaiti ! instead we are who we are for a reason we gotta use what we have to help others …

life is about sharing the love and helping one another life is beautiful people so quit complicating it !

U think the indian wants to have his hand cut off ?? the idiots sitting behind a desk drinking tea and eating 7ab and getting paid over 1000 kd per month are forbidding him from taking a break to get his hand checked.. u think they would care ?? The indian is afraid of losing his job since its his only income to feed his wife kids and family…

This has to stop!!! someone has to report this and those idiots need to learn! but hey what goes around comes around..

The problem is STILL the Kuwait Labor Law – old or new. Regardless of where a person works, if an employer isn’t allowing proper rest time, then they should be fined or suspended. AND – the employee should be able to file a dispute without reprecussion from the employer.

I am guessing that this man was probably forced back to work and not given either proper information on medical treatment or the time off to attend to it. When your salary is less than 100kd a month (and I’m guessing it is probably closer to the 50 KD range for pumping gas), then a day off work is a big deal.

In the US, we have EEOC (https://www.eeoc.gov/). If an employee calls EEOC with a dispute, the employer MUST settle or their business can be suspended immediately. They don’t wait and the employee isn’t harassed or deported because of it.

The manpower contracts this company has requires a substitute for any individual who is not reporting to work.. which means that Tanzifco has to provide another person in his place if they have to grant him leave or rest day…

This poor fellow did goto govt. clinic and they treated him for first degree burns and then referred to hospital but his employers refused him the rest day and told him that as per his contract his salary will be deducted for each day of leave and he will be deported back…

BTW… untill 2 years ago companies like KNPC etc also has similar contracts that too for Engineers and Executives working at higher positions… thet too were not allowed any sick leaves or any other kind of leaves… and for any leaves the money was deducted from their salaries…

and yes… they are still treated like slaves and always threatened with the loss of their jobs…

most of these poor people come to Kuwait with a dream to improve their lives but most often end up living another hell..

@Zed: Im sure if your hand was torched like this you’ll be okay with putting ointment on your hand…bala isti3ba6 this guys suffering and its obvious who we should blame.

Someone up there said something like ‘what are you going to do about it’. I am, I sure am; Sir.
I front 50kd for the poor chap and some medicines. God give me strength.

Here is an update, I managed to get through to the Chairman’s Secretary at Oula and explained the situation to her. She in turn forwarded me to the Operations Manager, who’s secretary noted down all the details and said, she’ll have the OM call me. Another point I requested for is that this worker be treated fairly and with compassion. I was also provided with the mobile number of the Project Manager at Al Kharafi – Hussain Al Mansouri (Mob. 97223916). So if any of you Arabic speaking folk want to take this up, please do? If you come to a dead end, then I’ll personally visit these offices and meet the concerned people.

@ dessert girl…i fully understand ur statement…but unfortunately here in kuwait no company or whatsoever do comply with the LABOR LAW…(or u wanna fight back with d company ur workin then u gonna nead some WASTA)

what i heard from some frendly debate in terms of Kuwait LABOR LAW with asian vs Kuwait LABOR LAW with americans/europians/AUS/CAN was that, companies do follow LABOR LAW and even give more exemptions to expats – (westerners to be specific) but none to non-westerners.

Keith thank you very much for your efforts! I will try giving this guy a call, I have a friend also trying to get through to Tanzifco to find out what is going on from their side.

Kudos to Keith.

Let’s hope something good comes out of this.

And not only do I wish this person is treated well, but also wish someone is severely reprimanded and fired for their incompassion.

Poor person, he is just thinking of the amount he would have to pay the company if he took days off.

From a personal experience, a person was hired through Tanzifco, and Tanzifco requires us to pay an amount around KD 120. From than amount they give half to the person we hired.
One day, that person comes and asks for a couple of KD, when asked why, he says he hadn’t been payed for the last three months. It is the same issue that labors face most of the time, not being payed for a period of time and expect them to be healthy and service everyone.

Thanks Marzouq and Mark for pointing this out.

Is there anyway we can get in contact with this poor man? We are willing to pay for all his medical needs and if he is worried about a job, I’m sure we can find him another.

Elle, I’m planning to visit this petrol pump after work today, so stand by this evening for another update.

Elle:
According to Z District’s directions, this should be the location:
https://i40.tinypic.com/2hevn06.jpg

Guys, i honestly suggest you agree on a time and go together over to the station around the time those pictures were to taken and take the poor dude to a hospital. Al-Amiri hospital is 5 minutes away from there.
I would have joined if i was in kuwait :/

Check the update above, we got the attention of the right people with a few phone calls. Thank you Keith for your help and everyone’s help. I know this is just one case, but its helping that counts. I honestly want to keep passing by to check for the guy, they said he is getting two weeks off so I will check every few days to see if is there, and hopefully he will be back in two weeks.

Good Work All!!
I am sure this will go a long way in getting other such cases out in the open…and other employees in Tanzifco will have the courage to speak up when they are being ill treated.

Keith you have my email I would love to help in any way please just let me know what I can do. I can take him to the hospital and stay there with him until I am sure he is better. Just tell me what to do.

I am apalled that it took someone like Keith to get this into action. Why didnt the person taking pics get him treated first? What about the so management of the pump?

btw big moe, you don’t need to be in Kuwait the fact that you care enough to keep up with the story shows that there are still people who care, which is great to see!

I am not at all surprised that this man is employed by Tanzifco. Where I work, the poor Tanzifco cleaners must work 6 days a week, arrive at 6 or 7 a.m. and leave at 9 p.m. Really?!?!?! 14 or 15 hour work days, 6 days a week, must not be legal either. I think Tanzifco and similar companies really need to be targeted for their 1) violations of the labor law and 2) violations of universal human rights! Anyone up for a targeted campaign?

This is shit how can one human ge so rude wid d otha its just insane sum1 should go burn those tanzifco guys hands n sprinkle some chilli powder and rub some salt ova it n show em wat it feels like to ge burned n still wrk lyk a slave.ive seen ma self alota arabs treat indians like dirt.they think they r d only humans n indians o otha nationalities r slaves o robots.treat em d way u wn2.But i was shocked to c so many ov u bein so carin about this indians owayz thot all arabz vr d same.thnx for provin me rng showin me all 5 fingrz aint d same n thnx alot Z District for puttin this up.

In about a months or two’s time everyone will forget about this poor fellow.

He will be stripped off all his rights and savings and will be deported, no one will know about it.

I would not like this to happen – of course not.

While we are all stuck in the moment trying to help out this person, it would be intersting to find out how he is keeping up 6,7,8 months from now.

Thats what I think counts – his treatment not today, but a year or more from now.

Kudos to everyone helping out and to Mark for always trying to shed light on these issues.

I just hope everyone in his situation does get the care they deserve, not just today or tomorrow but for as long as they are earning a hospitable income with an already tough job. It’s a very sad situation.

I am glad on the outcome…and Z District, highly appreciate your gesture. We need more people like the you and the team which made this possible. Treat humans like humans….

Kuddos to everyone…

it’s really too bad ,I know also another place called Tarab Cafe (just beside Sharaf Sandwitches) ,the workers there ARE WORKING SEVEN DAYS per week ,yes as u read it is 7 days per week for at least 15 hours per day ,their leave is per two years,which means working for more than 600 continuous days …..god help n save all low level workers from greed ppl.

@desertsky

dont generalize, learn different people live in this country, and those who see the things you mentioned haram, also see the ill treatment of humans as haram. Dont mix your cards.

Secondly… if you dont like it … LEAVE!

I went down to Oula petrol station this morning looking for the guy, was going to take him along to a hospital. His buddies there and his bosses said his shift starts at 2pm today. I left a big fat tube of Mebo cream for his burns. One of the other employees was saying something about hospital but between my broken Arabic and their broken English not sure if he ment the poor burnt guy went to a hospital. Will chk all the posts for updates.
By the looks of the other posts it seems we all actually made a difference. Great job guys!! Mark thank you for having the guts to post this. And pls know there are people out here who actually give a damn..

Observer says:
March 10, 2010 at 8:14 am
what about government insurance ? that comes with residency ?

Regarding the above comment …..Ahhh … you mean the one they use to pay everyone else in the Health Ministry?? Or what they use to pay for medical attention for Nationals in the UK or the States??? that Health Insuerance ??

Health insuerance ..MY ASS!!!! You still pay 1 Kd at the clinic and 02 Kd at the main hospitals for treatment. That too is based on your nationality. I took my Indian maid to Mubarak Al Kabeer once for treatment once coz we live in Jabriya and they asked for a 2 KD stamp. I was like why?? she has health insuerance and I showed them the gray medical card which you get when you pay for health insuerance at the time of your residence.The guy behind the window just said ” La ma seer” Hindi lazeem ati felus” Kuwaiti mafi mushkeel” I was shocked but not suprised.Any ways paid the 2 Kd coz she was in a bad state and I didnt want to waste time arguing. 25 minutes later in the waiting room watching every one else barging in we finally saw the doc who was this tired looking Kuwaiti Intern who just wanted to get it over and done with and in like 3 minutes he took her temp had a nurse check her blood pressure and said ok slight flu.Wrote a prescription for panadrex a rip off of panadol , cough syrup and ma salama. I knew something was not right so I asked a Fillipino nurse who happened to be there next to the Pharmacy window and he told me that this was standard treatment for non western expatriates. I was like fuck this and I took her to the Hadi Clinic next to the house. Slight Flu …my ass she had a high fever and a chest cold. They gave her a shot , some antibiotics for a week and some other medication. She was good as new in 3 days. If she had gone by the public hospital she would have been worse and God only knows how fucked up her condition would have become. She was lucky she had some one like me for a sponsor willing to take her to a Pvt hospital for medical attention. I can imagine the state of those maids, drivers and labourers with sponsors who dont give a fuck. The guy in the story was lucky it was some one on this blog who saw his hand and gave a fuck. Ask your self this; how many before him may have seen it and said .. Not my problem???

Labour Law.. new or old. Its only good as long as some one enforces it and here in Kuwait its hard to that considering everyone has some relative or wasta working in the Labour or the Interior Ministry. Otherwise its toilet paper.

I am a Western expat working for a business here in Kuwait owned and personally run by one of the “elite” families in Kuwait. If we take a sick leave on a Sunday or a Thursday, EVEN WITH A MEDICAL NOTE, we are docked 3 days pay, because it is too hard to cover our jobs if we are not there.

Of all the above posts, only desertsky summed up this issue best.

Kuwait 101
Drinking=haram
Discos=haram
Treat people like shit=no problem
Having double standards=no problem

—-

besides, I don’t know why that guy just doesn’t go live in India whose economy is the second fastest growing in the world and salaries and lifestyle is alot better anyway.

Sad, really sad.

Here is an update on my visit to the petrol pump. Our injured man’s name is Munibla and he is from Kerala – India. I did not get to meet him, neither did I get his mobile number. However I did speak to one of the workers there who informed that Munibal has got two weeks off with full pay.

Besides this there was a representative from Oula keeping an eye on whoever entered the gas station. While I was speaking to the worker, he was called away twice. They approached me to say something, but at the last minute changed their minds and turned away.

Well! I’ll do a follow up on Munibla once in a while and hope for the best.

Seriously guys – its awesome to see so many people that give a shit. While things are getting worse in Kuwait, it also highlights that there are some really good people out there. im all up for a targeted campaign against unfair labour treatments.

Mark thanks for reporting this

Wow…what a lost and what amazing people we have. I think we actually got a bonding here.Hats off to all.Everyone together now..1..2..3..Group hug!!!
YOU GUYS TOTALLY, TOTALLY ROCK.

Human rights in our region is a joke by anybody’s standards. Yet we get angry from being called “third world”.

It will interesting to know if this person would ever return to work at the same location or for that matter at the same company….

Chances are they will chuck him out.. of the country on some lame excuse on breach of a “labor law”

There are lot of labour violations in kuwait. There are lot of abuses and major violations in kuwait. I have seen maids being badly bruised, ill treated, beated and thrown off 3rd floors. Women working in chocolate factories in kuwait for 12+ hours straight without any rest or any benefits. Cleaners being beaten for no reason whatsoever after they have worked for the entire day outside.

Reading your blog after a week ….so saw this now. Have to say that was really nice of you to get this highlighted.
nice job mark and everyone….

It is so nice to see how people, regardless of where they are from, come together to help a person in need…. its brilliant to see how things are progressing from when i was a kid growing up in Kuwait… 🙂

The predicament that the labor force has to go through isn’t something to be looked over. This happens in a lot of the gulf countries, but by the looks of it… Kuwait is advancing in some form compared to the rest. Its a proud moment and do wish that the wonderful effort put in continues.

Kudos to this blog and to all those who lend a helping hand….

Sad to see those pixs and truly grateful that a small group of people on this forum were concerned enough to bring it up and then follow it up. Although we may not subscribe to or deem possible a Marxian worker’s utopia, when will the companies in Kuwait wholeheartedly embrace basic worker’s rights and truly believe in the dignity of labour? perhaps we are asking for too much. As a final line of protection, workers need the protection of the labour ministry and the full weight of support their countries embassies

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