When life and labour are cheap

The Gadani ship-breaking yard is set to reopen without any implementation of much-needed safety measures. The yard was shut after the tragic incident on November 1 that killed around 26 workers. Five of the workers inside the Japanese oil tanker, which burst into flames, are still missing and presumed dead. The blaze prompted promises from government officials that the safety of workers would be ensured and compensation would be given to the families of those who lost their lives as well the 70 workers who were injured. But now, without making any changes to ensure the safety of workers, the Pakistan Ship Breakers Association (PSBA) has asked the Balochistan and federal governments to allow them to restart their activities. While the PSBA points to this being the only such accident in its 45-year history, workers claim that it is the norm for one or two workers to die every month in accidents at ship-breaking yards. This sort of sheer disregard of labour laws and health and safety regulations in the ship-breaking yard has been going on for decades now.

In fact, as we have noted in our previous editorials as well, the Gadani ship-breaking yard has become popular for international ship breaking for the exact reason that labour and safety regulations do not apply there. The absence of these regulations is what is giving Pakistan – where labour is cheap and their lives are dispensable – a competitive advantage. Instead, Pakistan should have moved to much more technologically advanced methods of ship breaking so that the safety of workers can be improved. At the level of the government, there has been little action in terms of implementing basic safety and health standards or compensating the workers’ families. Till now, only Rs1.3 million has been distributed to the heirs of four workers. The promised Rs1.5 million per family of those who lost their lives is still nowhere to be seen. Authorities had promised to distribute the amounts in the hometowns of the deceased, an easy way out to delay compensation till the issue is forgotten. Labour unions and MPAs from the hometowns of the workers are promising protests until the compensations and safety standards improved. Pakistan’s workers have suffered under such neglect by authorities for too long. The number of industrial accidents has gone up in recent years. Workers’ welfare has to be at the centre of any vision for a developed Pakistan. The serious lapses in safety standards at the Gadani ship-breaking yard cannot be pushed aside just to get it functional again.