KARACHI:
Labour unions on Wednesday demanded that the authorities provide facilities for
the health and safety of labourers at the Gadani ship-breaking yard but
disagreed on its closure, with one union insisting that the closure would
worsen the living conditions of daily-wage earners.
Activities
at the ship-breaking yard were suspended by Lasbela deputy commissioner under
Section 144 of the criminal procedure code after five workers were burnt to
death in a fire that erupted in an LPG container, Chaumadra, on Jan 9.
Addressing
separate press conferences on Wednesday, representatives of the National Trade
Union Federation (NTUF) as well as the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education
and Research (Piler) said the authorities must ensure provision of facilities
for the health and safety of labourers at the ship-breaking yard.
However,
they disagreed on one point. Piler demanded that the government keep the
ship-breaking yard shut until the facilities are provided, whereas NTUF said
shutting it down would worsen the living conditions of daily-wage earners associated
with the ship-breaking yard.
Executive
director of Piler Karamat Ali demanded that the ship-breaking yard should be
closed till the facilities, including ambulance service, a fire brigade and a
dispensary, for the workers were provided.
Similar
demand for the facilities had been earlier made by NTUF deputy general
secretary Nasir Mansoor, but he said the closure of the Gadani ship-breaking
yard would not benifit the daily-wage earners.
At
the Karachi Press Club, Mr Mansoor was accompanied by the families of the
victims as well as union workers at the ship-breaking yard.
Speaking
an hour before the press conference by the Piler executive director about the
recent spate of accidents at the yard, the NTUF deputy general secretary said
the owners of the ship-breaking yard must be punished for their negligence. He
added that letting the owners go free after repeated accidents at the
ship-breaking yard would “give them a licence to kill”.
“More
than 70 per cent of the workers at the ship-breaking yard hail from Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa. They rely on the daily wages they earn at the yard. Closing it
down is the easiest way to absolve owners of all responsibility,” he said.
He
said that the businessmen and ship-breaking yard owners have made it a habit to
shirk their responsibility by paying off the families of the victims. In this
context, the government and the institutions responsible to implement laws had
failed miserably, he added.
Mr
Mansoor said that 32 labourers lost their lives at the ship-breaking yard in
the past three months only.
Investigations
into the cases of the previous fires did not bring out any substantial proof
and fix responsibility for the repeated incidents, he said.
Meanwhile,
Mr Ali told the media that 12,000 labourers currently worked at the
ship-breaking yard. “This sector does not come under any ministry or labour
department. Balochistan Development Authority is responsible for it and it is
unfortunate that it has not provided any facility at the yard. Ship-breaking
needs to be regulated and come under the labour department,” he added.
He
demanded that a separate board on the pattern of Karachi Dock Labour Board be
formed for the workers.
All
the previous meetings with the authorities, specifically the commissioner of
Kalat and district commissioner of Hub, seemed a pack of hollow promises, said
Mr Mansoor. “It was decided that a ship-breaking code would be formed. At the
same time, the ship-breaking yard will be registered with the labourers getting
special permit cards,” he added.
Twenty-six
workers were killed on Nov 1 when a decommissioned oil tanker, Aces, docked at
yard number 54, exploded during gas welding. Four persons are still considered
‘missing’ since the incident in which many onboard the fateful ship were
injured.
On
Jan 8, 24-year-old Dilshaad fell from the emergency lifeboat of the ship named
Snowdon, at yard number 69. According to eyewitnesses, the emergency lock on
the boat broke. Just a day later on Jan 9, five workers were burnt to death by
a fire that erupted at an LPG container on a ship named Chaumadra, at yard
number 60. A similar incident had been reported from the same yard on Dec 22
though workers had managed to quickly disembark the ship at that time.
Trade
unions reiterated their demand that all the owners be arrested and punished for
their negligence.
Source:
the dawn. 12 January 2017
http://www.dawn.com/news/1307804/labour-unions-seek-health-safety-facilities-at-gadani
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