Worker protest in Fikirtepe: Maggot-infested food, bedbug-ridden beds

Construction workers at the Kuzu Group site in Kadıköy, Fikirtepe, have revolted over maggots and worms found in their meals and bedbugs in their living quarters. The workers protested the poor conditions and health issues they are facing.

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Worker protest in Fikirtepe: Maggot-infested food, bedbug-ridden beds

In Istanbul's Kadıköy district, where the urban transformation process is ongoing, Fikirtepe, construction workers at the Kuzu Group site reported that maggots and worms were found in their food and that they could not sleep at night due to bedbugs.

Following the discovery of worms in their meals yesterday, the workers staged a protest in the cafeteria against the food and the unhealthy working conditions.

36-year-old construction worker Ersin Çelik, who came to Istanbul from Batman for work, Ersin Çelik, stated that he had traveled away from home for work many times before but had never experienced such a poor working environment.

'MAGGOTS FOUND IN FOOD FOR 3 DAYS'

Çelik, who works for a subcontractor of Kuzu Group called Birleşim Mühendislik, described the difficulties he has faced at the construction site for the past 20 days as follows: "You work under the sun all day and get exhausted. You want to eat a proper meal, but you can't. There are 200-300 people in line at every mealtime; you wait half an hour for food, only to end up with maggot-infested meals. Maggots were found in the food for three days in a row. The protest you saw happened because of the poor quality of the food. Don't we have the right to eat a bowl of hot food without maggots or bugs?"

6-7 PEOPLE STAY IN EACH DORMITORY

Stating that the living conditions are also very poor, Çelik said there are nearly 500 dormitories at the site, with 6-7 people staying in each. Noting that there is no room to move in the containers, Çelik stated that bedbugs are everywhere and the company only carries out pest control once a month. Çelik said, "Since I arrived, I have spent 700-800 liras just on these pesticides. You spray, but it doesn't end; because the plumbing in all the dormitories is connected, the bedbugs just move from one to another." he added.

Çelik also noted that the site doctor could not solve their problems, explaining that the doctor did not prescribe medication and he had to go to the hospital. He added that at the hospital, he was advised to leave his working conditions.

'THE TRANSFORMATION IN FİKİRTEPE HAS TURNED INTO PROFIT-DRIVEN URBAN RENEWAL'

DİSK/Dev Yapı-İş General President Özgür Karabulut stated, Fikirtepe that the urban transformation project is a rent-seeking transformation project inflated by the AKP. Karabulut stated that the workers on the project are being forced to work in 19th-century conditions, facing bedbug-ridden beds and insect-infested food. Karabulut noted that it is difficult for workers to achieve humane working conditions under such circumstances.

Özgür Karabulut said that it is difficult for unions to change the poor conditions at construction sites and that similar situations are occurring in other construction projects. He assessed the poor conditions at the Fikirtepe site by saying, "When you put 1,000 workers in a space meant for 500, these kinds of results occur."

News Source: 12punto