A housing project for agricultural communities in Hoeryong, North Hamgyong Province, has come to a halt because construction companies are unable to pay workers their wages, a source in the province told Daily NK earlier this month.
At the 4th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Party Central Committee last December, the Workers’ Party of Korea presented guidelines “for the new construction of socialist farming communities.” The new guidelines stressed the importance of building houses for agricultural communities nationwide.
Based on these guidelines, the central government said it would provide cement for rural construction upfront and promised that the state would provide other essential materials later on. Daily NK’s source claimed, however, that regions nationwide have been left to build housing with their own resources.
The city of Hoeryong, for its part, dumped the housing construction project on local companies.
Facing an uphill battle, including having to produce their own materials, these companies ultimately resorted to mobilizing outside labor to work on project. However, facing a situation where they are unable to pay workers their weekly wages, construction has been delayed.
“Organizations originally mobilized workers with the promise that once work began, laborers would be paid monthly. But, after three months without pay, construction inevitably came to a stop,” the source explained.
“At the same time, even the businesses themselves have difficulty pulling together enough money these days,” the source continued, adding, “Even if they operate ‘8.3 earnings’ schemes [whereby workers can pay a fixed sum of money to receive permission to do unofficial work elsewhere], it has become harder for individuals to make money on their own, so businesses aren’t generating the revenue they’re supposed to.”
As the end of the year draws closer and the halt in construction continues, companies tasked with construction are feeling the heat because they need to report the results of their projects to the government. Unpaid workers are further compounding these troubles by gathering daily to protest and lobby for their back pay.
“The government orders cities to build housing as if the cities can just build housing for free,” the source said. “But if the cities couldn’t build housing before, how are they supposed to build it now when the current COVID-19 situation has made it even more of a struggle just to get by? In the end, it’s the least powerful people in the bottom ranks who are left to fret over whether or not the plans can be carried out.”
Translated by Rose Adams.
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