Transfer of soybean ship sparks protest

KPT workers term it a conspiracy to end cargo handling at Karachi port, warn of strike

KARACHI: The cargo ship Hercules, carrying soybeans, was docked at Port Qasim on Friday after being displaced from Karachi Port, leading to Karachi Port Trust (KPT) workers protesting the move as well as the rumoured decision to halt unloading of bulk cargo at the port in the future.

The protesters marched from the KPT head office to the Native Jetty Bridge, where they staged a sit-in. As a result, arteries leading from the bridge to Mai Kolachi, Merewether Tower and Mauripur Road were choked by heavy traffic and the transport of cargo from the Karachi Port remained suspended for several hours.  The protest was joined by all unions representing KPT workers.

Staging the demonstration, members of the workers' unions said that coal handling operations had already been terminated at the port and were now being carried out at Port Qasim. They alleged that the attribution of Keamari's toxic gas leak to soybean dust was intended to terminate the handling of cereals and grains at the port as well. This has put at risk the livelihood of several of KPT employees, they lamented.

In fact, those killed due to gas leak were mostly kin of KPT workers, who were now being subjected to injustice and facing the deprivation of their source of livelihood, the aggrieved protesters bemoaned. They said that they would not let this "conspiracy" become successful.

The leaders of the workers' unions have warned that they would go on a strike, suspending operations on Karachi Port for an indefinite period, if the cargo handling operations were not restored at the port.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2020.