MQM-P demands resignation of labour minister

Reacting to the tragic fire incident in Mehran Town on Friday, political parties criticised the Sindh government’s labour department and Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) for failing to providing safety to industrial workers, and demanded of the government to launch a proper investigation into the blaze.

Demand for Ghani’s resignation

Leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) said several deaths in the fire at the Mehran Town factory showed incompetence and corruption of the labour minister and SBCA who were responsible for the precious lives lost in the blaze.

Addressing an emergency press conference at the Bahadurabad office, MQM-P’s coordination committee member and federal minister Syed Aminul Haque demanded that Sindh Labour Minister Saeed Ghani resign immediately and action be taken against those responsible for the incident.

He that the federal government had provided 52 fire tenders and two bowsers to the city. “On the one hand, the Sindh government failed to increase its capacity and efficiency, and on the other hand, the administrator was holding a press conference in an air-conditioned room while he was supposed to be at the scene of the accident.”

“When we reached the accident site, there were iron grills on the doors and windows and there was no emergency exit in the building,” said Haque. MQM-P deputy convener and former Karachi mayor Syed Wasim Akhtar said the MQM-P

Was celebrating August as the month of independence but due to the fire incident, the party had called off its activities on Friday. He said MQM-P leaders and parliamentarians would attend the funeral prayers of the deceased labourers in various parts of the city. “We share the grief of the families of the victims,” Akhtar added.

‘Late response’

Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman demanded of the Sindh government to launch a probe into the Korangi factory blaze. Reacting to the tragedy, he said the cause of the blaze should be ascertained and those responsible for the tragedy brought to justice.

“Following the inferno, the late response of the fire brigade department should be a matter of grave concern for the provincial government. Had the rescue operation been launched on time, several causalities could have been avoided,” he said.

He demanded of the government to point out the authority that had allowed the chemical factory to be established in a thickly populated residential colony. He also raised questions over the role of relevant watchdogs. The JI leader expressed his condolences to the affected families and demanded free medical treatment for the injured.