Miners’ rights

The governments needs to do considerably more to bring international standards to mine safety.

Mining for natural resources has always been risky for those who go underground to earn a living. Over the years, international standards of mine safety have generally improved, but some countries, and Pakistan is one, have a consistently poor record of mine safety and protecting the rights of miners. The district of Shangla is where many of our miners have their origins. There are an estimated 60-70,000 miners from Shangla working in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Their home region is poorly developed and lacking even the most basic resources in many instances. The mines are, for many, the only employment opportunity. The contractors that employ them do little to provide safety equipment. Few provide torches or helmets, there are no oxygen cylinders or emergency giving-sets in case of a release of poisonous gases. When a miner dies under a rock fall, the employers are often unwilling even to go to the expense of retrieving the body and compensation for their loss is nowhere on the employers’ agenda.

Pakistan is an energy-hungry country and coal is one of the energy sources that we have in relative plenitude. The National Assembly member for Shangla has claimed that a majority of companies do not register miners in order to avoid their responsibilities — paying taxes, the provision of safety equipment and health and educational facilities — and despite a disavowal of this by a representative of the contractors, there seems little reason to doubt the assertion. It is further said that a majority of mining companies are themselves unregistered. There is weakly enforced legislation in place that supposedly ensures the right of miners and requires both individual and company registration. The mining industry is set to expand, and this and future governments need to do considerably more to bring international standards to mine safety and working conditions. Miners risk their lives for all of us and the least that can be done is to ensure their humane treatment.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th,  2014.

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