Gadani shipbreaking yard: PM urged to lift ban as work at a standstill for one month

Industry assures govt of support on labour safety measures

KARACHI: Frustrated with the stance of Balochistan government, the Pakistan Ship Breakers Association (PSBA) has urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to directly intervene and allow its members to work freely as activities have been at a standstill for the past one month since a deadly fire took lives of at least 26 workers at Gadani.

“We want the federal government to immediately allow the industry to operate,” PSBA Vice Chairman Ikhlaq Memon said while speaking at a press conference at the head office of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).

Delinking an ongoing inquiry into the fire incident from economic activities at the Gadani shipbreaking yard, he said the industry was being badly hurt due to the provincial government’s complete closure of the yard.

The deadliest-ever incident at the site occurred on November 1 after which the government constituted a high-powered committee to investigate the accident. It also imposed Section 144 at the Gadani shipbreaking yard.

Supporting voices

When the provincial government arrested PSBA Chairman Rizwan Dewan just after the incident, it was the FPCCI that facilitated his immediate release.



Providing much-needed support to the PSBA on Thursday again, FPCCI Senior Vice President Shaikh Khalid Tawab said the government had taken a very harsh measure by locking down the Gadani shipbreaking yard.

“The government should immediately allow the shipbreaking industry to function,” he demanded.

“When the government is itself held responsible for such incidents, it does not take such harsh measures. It is hurting the entire shipbreaking industry because of an individual act of a company,” he said.

“Did the government arrest its railway minister on negligence after the recent train collision in Karachi?”

However, he said the FPCCI would support the government in efforts to increase labour safety at the shipbreaking yard but it should also allow the industry to work in the current situation.

Meanwhile, Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) Chairman Mohsin Sheikhani said the government should investigate the cause of the incident which was yet to be determined. “Government’s move to ban all business activities at the shipbreaking yard is not a logical solution to the problem,” Sheikhani said.

ABAD says it supports the PSBA’s viewpoint because steel re-rolling mills are shutting down due to closure of the shipbreaking yard and prices of re-bars have jumped up by Rs12,000-15,000 per ton in the last one month.

Rights groups supporting workers of the shipbreaking yard say over 50 workers had been injured and about 100 workers were still missing after the oil tanker fire incident.

These missing workers are believed to be pulverised or incinerated without a trace. A gigantic ship continued to burn for four days as civilian and military firefighters struggled to put out the deadly blaze.

Since no paperwork is usually done while hiring workers neither are they issued any IDs or employment letters, it is very difficult to confirm how many really work at the shipbreaking yard.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2016.

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