24-hour ultimatum to federal government: FPCCI demands Gadani ship-breaking activities be restored

Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Thursday gave a 24-hour ultimatum to the federal government to lift section 144 restriction imposed on ship-breaking activities at Gadani that was imposed in the wake of November 1 fire incident.
"The imposition of ban is a gross injustice because ship-breaking industry contributes annual revenue of Rs 12 billion to the national exchequer. It supplies 34 percent of raw material for steel industry being used in the local market particularly in the real estate sector," said FPCCI's senior vice president Shaikh Khalid Tawwab at a press conference organized by Pakistan Ship Breakers' Association (PSBA) at the Federation House. Vice president Hanif Gohar of the FPCCI also spoke. They said the closure of large tax-paying industry has not only caused huge revenue losses to the federal exchequer, but also shook the confidence of real estate businessmen who were willing to make investments under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Akhlaq Memon, a PSBA representative said the inquiry committee constituted by the provincial government must act as per the law of the land, but the whole industry and inter-linked sectors should not be affected at any cost. He also requested the Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri to take personal interest in the matter and issue orders to restore the ship-breaking activities. The section 144 was challenged and some 22 petitions were also filed in the Balochistan High Court (BHC). The date of hearing is fixed on December 5.
"We shall get relief from the Court, but, for smooth activities, we shall always need cooperation from the local authorities of Balochistan," he said. To a query about precautionary measures for the workers to avoid any such untoward incident, he said the association has decided to establish a state of the art hospital in Gadani next year.
"For the time being, we have set up one dispensary at each shipyard to provide first aid services to the workforce." he said, adding that a compensation package for the workers has already been announced. That comprises Rs 400,000 per head under the laws of the Balochistan government and Rs 1.1 million from the PSBA as assistance to each affected family. Furthermore, a compensation of Rs 100,000 has been announced for each person injured due to the fire incident.
Kashif Ayub, a re-rolling sector representative said the closure of the industry rendered thousands of laborers jobless and the supply of steel to the rerolling mills and other allied-industries has stopped. "The Federal Government has lost Rs 1 billion revenue since the closure of ship breaking activities" he said. Closure of the ship breaking industry and non-supply of steel to the construction industry would have adverse effects on the important projects coming up as part of the CPEC and this would negatively affect the image of Pakistan, he feared. Al least 26 labours were killed and several others injured in the fire incident at Gadani Ship yard while three labours have reportedly gone missing since that incident.