“Philip noticed and mentioned it to me earlier in the evening” martins admitted.
“Well, we have these spots along this side of the wall that we call slot, they are our windows to the outside” Zell explained, ” the dormitory is just a disguised prison, we are put in here after our shifts, and the gate is locked till the next shift, it is a miracle there have been no emergencies”
“Don’t you have any means of communication with the main block?”
“None whatsoever”
“Don’t the employers care?” Martins asked.
” I don’t think so, if there is a major disaster, all they do is to replace the ones they lose” Zell told him.
“My goodness! Don’t any outsiders come in here at all?”
“We have seen some inspectors come through on a number of occasions, somehow the owner of the facility make sure the dormitories are not included in their inspections”
“Why do they go to these length to hide what happens behind the scenes?” Martins asked curiously.
“It’s about child’s slavery, what they are trying desperately to hide are the child labourers being used in the facility, we were acquired from our parents through trickery, we have been sold to these people just like goats are sold on the open market” Zell stated.
“Oh i see, So the money i saw was not a gift after all” martins said, recollecting the wad of notes he had seen his mother counting.
“I don’t know how much money is involved, i think it’s still cheaper for them to continue trafficking children rather than employing the right people. You guys have been brought in because there is more demand for their products” Zell concluded.
“And these products are the lobsters?” Martins asked him.
“Not just the lobsters bro” Zel said, the sound of his voice dropping down to a whisper, “They are also farming a rare form of oyster which is a protected species worldwide. It is a crime for anyone to be growing those oysters for pearls or food.”
After a brief explanation martins got to to know what an oyster was and looked like, he also learnt that pearls particularly was so expensive that each oyster could only formm one pearl during its lifetime.
“So it’s double money with this oyster thing”, martins added, “They get to sell the oyster meat and more importantly the pearl as well?”
“Exactly! These oyster and lobsters are in high demand in classy restaurants and hotels, people pay a lot money to have them on their menu”, Zel added. ” The oysters are harvested once a year with special machines, so you don’t get to hear a lot about those”.
“But why do these guys have to be involved in child-trafficking and child slavery to run their business? Especially if it’s so profitable”, martins enquired, still not able to understand the logic behind ELF.