KARACHI: Another worker lost
his life in an accident apparently due to lack of safety at a ship-breaking
yard in Gadani on Friday.
Muhammad Shakir, 20, was
killed as a heavy metal sheet fell on him during dismantling of a
decommissioned vessel in plot No 69 in Gadani. The victim hailed from Rahim Yar
Khan in southern Punjab and worked as a helper at the yard.
“The worker died on the
spot,” Bashir Mehmoodani, president of the Ship Breaking Workers Union Gadani,
told The Express Tribune. “The incident occurred due to the lack of health and
safety measurements and facilities.”
This is the seventh death in
Gadani since last year’s November 1 oil tanker tragedy which jolted the
authorities and drew their attention towards the precarious nature of work and
no safety at the ship-breaking yard.
Gadani’s
ship-breaking workers threaten to go on strike
On November 1, 2016, 26
workers were killed and dozens were wounded when a decommissioned oil tanker
moored for dismantling caught fire during initial work. The fire blazed for at
least four days as authorities with their apparently insufficient machinery
tried to put it out.
Gadani’s ship-breaking yard
is arguably the second largest in the world and earns billions in revenue for
the government besides catering to around 30% of the country’s iron needs,
Mehmoodani commented.
“Yet there is no mechanism
or facilities to save workers from these sort of accidents that have now become
normal in Gadani,” he lamented, adding that the pledges made by the
ship-breaking yard owners and the authorities to ensure safety have yet to
materialise.
The union president lamented
that the police booked the plot manager, foreman and a welder for their alleged
negligence that led to the death of the worker, while relieving the yard owner
and the contactor despite the fact that they were equally responsible for the
death.
No rest for
Sindh’s labourers
He added that neither the
ship-breakers nor the government have fulfilled their duty to ensure the safety
of workers in Gadani and due to this criminal negligence workers have decided
to wage a protest movement starting this August and then will opt for strike if
things did not take due course.
Source: the express tribune.
31 July 2017
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