Baldia factory fire: Victims' families reject proposal of paying compensation in installments

ILO wants to distribute funds through Sessi, which is not a credible institution, says AEFFAA chairperson

KARACHI: Over 70% of the victims of the Baldia factory fire were unmarried and their parents depended on them, said Ali Enterprises Factory Fire Affectees' Association (AEFFAA) Chairperson Saeeda Khatoon on Wednesday.

"The measly amount that the International Labor Organisation (ILO) has proposed as their compensation is a joke," Khatoon lamented.
She was speaking at a general body meeting of the AEFFAA at the Pakistan Medical Association auditorium over the association's contentions with the ILO on the $5 million compensation disbursement mechanism.

She urged the ILO and other stakeholders to find a meaningful solution to the problem, as the victims' families rejected the proposal to pay the sum in installments.



KiK Textilien, the German textile company that was the buyer of most of the products made at Ali Enterprises, last year paid $5.15 million to the ILO as compensation for the families of the victims. The ILO insists that the money will be distributed among the victims in installments as low as Rs3,800 a month.

On September 11, 2012 260 people died and dozens were injured in the fire at Ali Enterprises garments factory located in Baldia Town.
Khatoon said that the ILO wants to distribute the money through the Sindh Employees Social Security Institution (Sessi), which is not a credible institution as the victims have already experienced its incompetent mismanagement and corruption.

"Leaving us at the mercy of Sessi is the worst decision because the ridicule we will have to suffer as this mechanism will only multiply our miseries," she said, adding that Sessi has already closed its doors on the victims.



"The staffers don't listen to us," she said on behalf of all the families of the fire victims.

Sessi is not only a nightmare for the victims' families but millions of other workers who are registered with the institution for their social security face the same problem and are protesting their wrongdoings, she said.

A large number of the families of the victims were present during the meeting. They offered suggestions on how the money should be distributed and expressed their apprehensions over the proposed plan.

They demanded the Sindh government defer the formation of a monitoring committee over the compensation disbursement until a meaningful solution is found. They also appealed to the stakeholders to not be a part of the committee until a mutually agreed upon mechanism is devised.



They also said that the inclusion of organisations that have nothing to do with the issue is not only incomprehensible but raises concerns about the efficiency of the body that it will become.

Rejecting the pension proposal and Sessi's involvement, the victims' families said that the disbursement should be done through the Sindh High Court, as has happened in past, and their representative body, AEFFAA, should be taken on board.

Without the victims, they said, there cannot be a solution. The victims will fight every move intended to harm their unity, they added.
Besides Khatoon,  President Jabir Khan, general secretary Abdul Aziz and others spoke at the meeting.