DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — They are not inclined to complain, not about the merciless sun or the 110-degree heat, as they labor to transform the pale sands of the Arabian desert into verdant fairways. They accept with resignation that their families are far away, in India, Pakistan or Nepal.
What these migrant workers cannot abide is how frequently their employer, a local construction company, pays them late, delaying the money they send home and forcing their families to borrow. They are especially frustrated given where they have been dispatched to work — the Trump International Golf Club, part of President Trump’s global array of business interests.
“He has countless amounts of money!” fumed a 24-year-old Pakistani who works as a driver for the local construction company that has a contract at the course, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job. “We are very far away from our houses, from our children, our families. It hurts us.”
The Trump International Golf Club, which officially opened in February, is the centerpiece of Damac Hills, a gated complex of 4,000 luxury villas and 7,500 condos selling for up to $4 million each. Sixteen miles to the east, a second Trump-branded course is being built inside an even larger resort, Akoya Oxygen, where a recent promotion beckoned: Buy two villas and get two Mercedes-Benzes.
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