Sanitary staff protests against non-payment of dues, pensions

Rawalpindi
The municipal staff of city Saturday staged a protest demonstration demanding early release of outstanding dues and pension within seven days otherwise they would not lift garbage from the city for an indefinite period.
The angry protesters said that future of more than 2,000 sanitary workers was on stake due to arrival of Turkish firm Al Buraq took charge of waste disposal.
Municipal Workers League (MWL) President Haji Farooq Khan during his address said that government has snatched each and everything from poor people.” Government has given each and everything to the Turkish firm Al-Buraq and has unemployed us,” he said. He also said that city district government, Rawalpindi has stopped all kinds of dues and salaries of workers for several months. “If city district government did not accept our demands within seven days, we would stop lifting of garbage from all city areas. There would be smell all around the city and people would not get water also, if the matter is not resolved immediately, he warned.
Haji Muhammad Farooq said that poor workers were not getting their outstanding dues and pensions for the last seven months and they could not survive in prevailing circumstances.
He also warned that neither their workers nor the staff of Turkish firm, Al-Buraq would lift garbage from Rawalpindi.
Municipality Workers League (MWL) General Secretary Younas Masih said that retired employees and their kin were visiting city district government office everyday for clearance for their dues and pensions. “But nobody listens to them,” he claimed.
They protesters raised slogans against the high ups for failing to pay their outstanding dues for the last seven months besides non-payment of pension to the retired employees