Eid al Fitr (End of Ramadan)

I arrived at Balhaf on October 13, just after Ramadan. The Muslim population, about 75% of the labor force, was in recovery mode following a month of fasting and white-knuckled spirituality. As a consequence, nothing much was accomplished by way of my in-processing, setting up a place to work or computer access during the 3 days of feast and festivity of the Eid al Fitr. The Yemgas management goes out of its way to accommodate the religious needs of the Muslims, in part because the Yemeni government, a 20% owner, requires it. But also because the uneducated Muslims - which is to say most of them - are already a bit freaked out about working for the infidels.

There are makeshift mosques that Yemgas has set up all over the plant, consisting of simple concrete block rooms, facing Mecca of course, which is about 400 miles to the north. The mosques all have an associated ablution hut, equipped with toilets and sinks for washing up in preparation for prayer. They heed the muezzins’ calls to prayer five times daily, two or three of which are during work hours. It takes a block of time out of the day, but they are fully compensated. The subcontractors do their best to downplay these work absences to the Chinese, Korean and Indian laborers, who don’t get these breaks, but of course it is impossible for them not to notice.

Yemen is among the most regressive of all the Muslim countries: they rank high in the usual categories – tribal mentality, xenophobia, repression of education and women, melding of church and state. The Yemenis have earned a reputation as reactionary, true believers. The USS Cole was bombed at Aden, about 300 km down the beach. The 9-11 hijackers were well represented by Yemeni zealots. The bin Laden clan has their ancestral roots here, and the family construction business has its way with government contracts for infrastructure, at least in areas where the concept of infrastructure has meaning.

The Governorate of Sabwa, where Balhaf is located, is populated very sparsely by tribal groups. There have been several strikes in these parts against western targets in the recent past, although, in some cases it is less an aggression against the west than it is against the local and national government. Yesterday there was a pipeline explosion in Marib, north of here, brought about by tribesmen who are known to be discontented with the level of spending the provincial government dedicates to infrastructure improvements. This is fairly common in the backwater areas, where tribal government competes with conventional government as the dominant political presence. In order to force spending on public works, they blow something up, or, more successfully, they kidnap a westerner and the government pays a ransom for their release (the Yemen government is keen to minimize bad press in order to encourage foreign investment in projects like YLNG.) The tribes have found that this approach can work: in several cases the ransom money has been used to pay for roads and schools.

On March 26, 2007, there was a riot at YLNG. The word got out to the labor force that one of the managers had desecrated a Koran, by touching it, or throwing on the floor – we will never know the true story. With each retelling of the story in the workplace, the description of the desecration got worse. Thus incensed, an angry mob formed. They moved to the fire station and disabled the fire truck, then moved on to the heli pad and doused the helicopter with diesel and set it on fire. YLNG ordered the charter plane to take off rather than risk the torch. The prevailing belief is that the protest was orchestrated and the story about the Koran desecration was contrived. 50 or so Yemenis were arrested and they ultimately disappeared from the project. The mob, apparently satisfied that their message had been heard, cooled off and went back to work.
My opinion about the security conditions has evolved during the four weeks that I have been here. Initially, the only information available to me was the intimidatingly heavy fences and concertina wire strung everywhere inside and outside the facility, and the omnipresent Yemini military, with checkpoints at gate entrances and even at cafeterias. There are jeeps with turret-mounted machine guns constantly circling the perimeter of the fence. But over time, I have grown to realize that the Yemini laborers are mostly just interested in job security; there is an incentive for individuals to keep the management happy because there will be a significant manpower requirement to operate the plant once the construction is finished. I have never seen anything remotely resembling resentment, quite the contrary, I am treated with deference and respect anywhere I go. I have no trepidations whatsoever wandering among the so-called pioneer camps, even after dark. I have two Yemenis on my staff: they are career-minded and eager to learn so that they will have skills to offer once the hiring of long-term employees begins. It is difficult for me to imagine that either Ghamal or Hussein would participate in a riot targeting western personnel or materials. Still, it is a bit disconcerting that the March riot sought out the weak link in the YLNG security system: our means of escape.