QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Secretary Shoaib
Mir has said that the government was taking measures for the promotion of
ship-breaking industry and trying to resolve problems being faced by people
linked with it.
Presiding over a meeting during his visit to
Gadani and talking to representatives of the Pakistan Ship-Breaking Association
and the Gadani ship-breaking labour union, he said the industry’s future was
linked to the safety and welfare of labourers.
He said that after establishing the Gadani
Ship-Breaking Regulatory Authority and steps taken by the departments concerned
there was progress in safety of labourers.
Officials of different departments related to
ship-breaking industry and Lasbela Industrial Estate Development Authority
attended the meeting and briefed the chief secretary on the performance and
measures taken by the government for improving working conditions in the
ship-breaking yard and welfare of labourers.
The chief secretary, however, said that it
was responsibility of the ship-breaking association to launch development
projects for the welfare of people of the area.
“The government will not tolerate any
negligence in the safety of labourers working in the ship-breaking industry,”
Mr Mir said.
He said the government would also take steps
for the promotion of the Gadani ship-breaking industry and make it more
profitable.
The President of Pakistan Ship Breaking
Association, Akhlaq Meman, briefed the chief secretary on measures taken by his
association for improvement of working conditions in Gadani shipyard. He said
all required machinery and medicines, including ultrasound and laboratory
equipment, had been provided to the Rural Health Centre, Gadani, while
compensation of Rs1.5 million was paid to the family of each victims.
He offered to set up allied industry of
ship-breaking if the government provided land to them. He suggested that a
sub-office of the companies registrar should be established in Hub town so the
ship-breakers could pay their sales tax in Balochistan instead of Sindh.
“Ship-breakers were paying Rs12 billion sales
tax annually,” Mr Meman said.
The chief secretary assured the participants
of the meeting that their proposals would be considered. He, however, said that
an effective system would be evolved for monitoring all affairs of the Gadani
shipyard, adding that the deputy commissioner of Lasbela had been appointed as
focal person in this regard.
Source:
dawn. 03 April 2017
https://www.dawn.com/news/1324487/ship-breaking-workers-safety-to-be-improved
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