PQA contract employees made permanent: Kaira promises better share for labour

Pledging to introduce the culture of capitalist-labour partnership, Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Qamar Zaman Kaira has declared that all contractual employees of Port Qasim Authority (PQA) have been made permanent employees.
The federal minister made the announcement while addressing a crowded ceremony held at Port Qasim on Monday to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the port. Port Qasim is the country's second deep-sea port, the foundation stone of which was laid in 1973 by the then Prime Minister and founder of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
The PPP-led government would not allow anyone to exploit the working class, he said, adding that the labourers would be given their proper share in every institution of the country.
Meanwhile, security personnel from Pakistan Rangers baton charged and then opened fire on a group of protestors, calling themselves "affectees of Port Qasim", demanding employment in Port Qasim, which, they said, had been built on their lands. The firing, which was aimed at dispersing the angry mob, had reportedly left at least 10 people injured. The police arrested several others. Terming the protest as a democratic right of the people Kaira ordered their immediate release and directed PQA to employ local people on daily wages.
On "land compensation" to the "affectees of Port Qasim" the federal minister said it was deplorable that despite the passage of 35 years they had not been given their due share. He ordered the PQA chairman to ensure resolution of this longstanding issue within the next 15 days.
Kaira, announcing early implementation of 20 percent raise in the salaries of government employees, also announced Rs 35,000 cash each as a gift for those PQA employees who had been serving the Authority for the last 35 years.
Allowing the auction of commercial plots in Gulshan-e-Qasim Town, the federal minister also directed PQA to introduce soft loans facilities for low paid employees for the construction of their houses. He also announced the construction of the Benazir Bhutto Hospital in the town. Ordering a resumption of sports activities, particularly the formation of a football team, Kaira also assured the PQA employees of resolution of their house rent issues in as soon as a month.
The federal minister lauded the PQA for not only supporting the economy, but also providing job opportunities. He said that it was the acumen and wisdom of the PPP leadership, which prophesied the emergence and the important role of Port Qasim in the development of national economy.
In his speech, Chairman PQA Rear Admiral Syed Afzal gave a brief account of the performance and development activities of the port. He told the gathering that during financial year 2007-08 a record 26.4 million tonnes of cargo was handled at Port Qasim - an increase of 9 percent over the last corresponding period. Qasim International Container Terminal (QICT), which he said was contributing a lion's share in containerised traffic, had a record of over 0.75 million TEUs, registering a growth of 14 percent as compared to the last corresponding figures.
Additionally, the FOTCO Oil Terminal, he said, which accounts for almost 50 percent of the country's total POL imports, handled an unprecedented 8.7 million tonnes of POL imports during 2007-08. Throughput at Marginal Wharf stood at 5.1 million tonnes showing an increase of 32 percent during 2007-08 over the corresponding figures of 3.87 million tonnes during 2006-07, he added. Engro VoPak Terminal provides port facilities for all the liquid chemicals imports of the country, and also showed an increase of 3 percent, standing at 0.84 million tonnes during the outgoing fiscal year.
He said to cope with increasing demand for port facilities, PQA has an ambitious development plan for capacity enhancement under which currently 9 private sector projects were being implemented. After completion of these projects in 2011, the number of berths at Port Qasim would be increased from 10 to 20, taking the handling capacity of the port to 85 million tonnes from the current 34 million tonnes, showing an increase of 150 percent, he added.
The chairman said the PQA was undertaking the deepening of their channel at an estimated cost of $150 million for increasing the port parameters. The project was being undertaken on Design, Construct and Finance basis.
Other speakers included Federal Minister for Labour and Overseas Pakistanis Syed Khursheed Shah, Speaker Sindh Assembly Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, and Member of National Assembly Sher Mohammad Baloch. The Chairman Port Qasim Association of Trade and Industry (PQATI) Naeem Ilyas Khanani, Director General Planning and Development Afsar Din Talpur, Senior PQA Officer Jamil Ahmed Siddiqui and other PQA officials also spoke.