Fauji Akbar Portia Marine Terminals threatens to close facility

A private dry cargo handling terminal - Fauji Akbar Portia Marine Terminals (FAP) has threatened to close the $137 million facility permanently, if the government failed to protect workers and machinery from the dock labours violent attacks.
Giving a briefing to the newsmen at the FAP office on Thursday, Chief Executive of the terminal Ahmed Rana said the cargo handling operations had ceased for the last 48 hours after the PQA dock workers attacked the terminal on March 15. He said the terminal found it difficult to continue operations under permanent security fears to labourers and officials besides threats of damage to million rupees of machinery.
He said FAP was suffering million of rupees financial losses for the closure of facility, as one of the ship had moved to Karachi Port after its discharge had come to a halt in the wake of violence this week. He alleged the cargo handling companies and political parties were supporting the labourers' agitation against FAP for their vested interests, saying the present crisis would send a negative impression to other investors interested in setting up of such terminals there in the future.
Showing concerns, he said FAP had invested $135 million into the project and if the continued agitation did not stop would certainly deter the investors from sinking their capital in this sector at the country's second largest seaport. Rana said he and his officers had received death threats while there were fears of violence may again strike the terminal if PQA did not step up immediately against the perpetrators. However, on the issue had refused further comments for it is in the court, he said.
Dispelling the impression, CE FAP said there was no law at Port Qasim Authority (PQA) like the one implemented at Karachi Port between Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and Karachi Dock Labour Board (KDLB). He rejected the dock workers claims of the law between them and PQA, under which they could seek work at any of the private terminals, saying the implementation agreement signed between the authority and FAP had no such provisions. He said even these agitators were not employees of PQA.
Rana claimed that there were only 400 genuine dockworkers, out of 1750 and the rest were ghost ones, adding FAP had agreed to employee the real workers but not all. He termed them "mafia". In line with the implementation agreement, he said, FAP could not be influenced by anyone to hire employees at the terminal.
The CE FAP said PQA was responsible to ensure law and order inside the terminal, besides protection to workers and property there. He said he had sent letter to ports and shipping ministry and PQA, besides police and Rangers for airtight security at the seaport. Rana said seaports were highly secured places like airports and violence would certainly scale down import and exports process. He demanded the government to protect FAP's facility and its workers and officers from violence.