Chinese construction workers on the Carmelton Carmel tunnels project in Haifa refuse to allow women journalists to accompany the press tour of the site being organized by Yefe Nof Transportation Infrastructure And Constructions Ltd. on the grounds that women would cause disaster. Yefe Nof's board, which scheduled the press tour for Sunday, has asked the women correspondents not to participate.
300 Chinese workers are digging the Carmel tunnels, working in three shifts round the clock. They are housed in temporary buildings on site. Yefe Nof also employs Chinese cooks, and built a special kitchen at their specifications.
Sources close to the project told "Globes" that the Chinese workers had made no official request for women not to enter the work site, but raised the issue during conversations with the company's management, which decided to respect the workers' wishes.
The sources added that Yefe Nof was doing everything it could to respect the workers' customs. This including the holding of a ceremony to ask nature's forgiveness before they began the digging. The ceremony included prayers, music, songs, and offerings of fruits and vegetable to Mount Carmel. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the workers set off fireworks, before setting out to work.
Carmelton spokesman Avi Shmul said in response, "The Chinese are our guests, which is why we respect their faith. The construction team includes no women, so the issue never came up on a day-to-day basis."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 20, 2007
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