Racing to showcase flood recovery before a key party meeting, North Korean authorities have pushed construction workers into dangerous conditions while cutting corners on building materials.
Recently obtained photos show that construction workers are placed at risk due to improper safety measures and use materials that could cause problems later on.
In one of the photos Daily NK obtained, several cement pipes are stacked up, with the end of one of the pipes severely damaged.
A source in North Pyongan province said the cement pipes are sewer pipes for apartment wastewater and that the pipes are easily damaged because of the low-strength cement.
“The pipes break easily because the cement that was supplied is weak, and they have insufficient rebar,” the source said. “All the pipes except those completely unusable are being used in the construction.” This means damaged building supplies are being used.
“Since the rebar that must go into the basic foundations, walls and between floods is weak and in woefully short supply, the construction is entirely shoddy,” he said. “Nevertheless, builders have no choice but to use what they have because it’s all they’ve got and they’re being pressed by above to complete construction quickly.”
Despite this shoddy construction, the North Korean authorities continue to push workers to meet the completion deadline, with workers at the site even saying they would “never live in these homes, even if they got them for free.”
“All these homes under construction in North Pyongan province are shoddy,” the source said. “If somebody asked me if I’d live in such a home, I’d choose to live safely in a single-story house instead.”
In another photo obtained by Daily NK, work brigade members mobilized for construction are precariously engaged in exterior work, standing on wood planks.
Not only can we see broken or bent planks, but they also lack sufficient scaffolding, putting them seemingly at risk of falling. In particular, the workers on the upper floors are not using safety equipment to prevent falls.
“Safety is not important for work brigade members at construction sites,” the source said. “They don’t even think about installing the planks securely.”
In another photo, the striking thing is that many workers — not just one or two — simply look on without participating in the construction. The photo captures workers watching the construction with their hands on their waists, arms crossed, or legs propped on a mound of dirt.
The source observed that observers and supervisors at the construction site vastly outnumber the actual workers, raising questions about the excessive layers of leadership present at the project.
The photos were taken after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s third visit to the flood recovery zones in North Pyongan province. On Nov. 4, Kim’s most recent visit, the North Korean leader provided on-site guidance and ordered that construction work be completed at the highest standard in time for the ruling party’s plenary meeting in December.
Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
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November 21, 2024 at 08:00AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)