Coal mines (death traps) to kill our children. Part-1

A new dawn is possible
November 22, 2022
Coal mines (death traps) to kill our children. Part-2
December 2, 2022

Chief Minister,                                                                       2nd Dec 2022

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,

Chief Minister House, Peshawar.

 

Chief Secretary,

Government of Khyber PakhtunKhwa

Civil Secretariat,   Peshawar,

 

Secretary for Labour

Estate office building. Gate no, 5, Labour department,

Civil Secretariat . Peshawar

 

Director Labour

3rd Floor FC Trust Building Saddar Road, Peshawar Cantt.

 

Director General Mines and Minerals

Minerals Development Department, Civil Secretariat, Peshawar.

Dear Sir,

Nine Coal Mine workers lost their lives because of your cruelty,  incompetence, ineffective compliance of law and financial compromise.

I write these lines with a deep sense of pain and anguish. I also write these lines with an utter sense of disappointment and disgust against all Ministers, Secretaries, Directors and Labour Inspectors, whose incompetence and compromise facilitates the daily death of our sons, brothers and fathers working in the coal mines of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. You are a befitting symbol of greedy exploitative and callous rulers of Pakistan  and you ought to be charged for first degree murder.

Today, the 30th November, 2022, nine miners lost their lives in Mine No 4. Tariq Mine, Doli, Orakzai, KPK coal mine accident. Working 2500 feet underground, with zero safety precautions, a gas explosion provides little chances of escape. As a citizen of Pakistan, I stand ashamed that our mines are managed and regulated by such callous, incompetent and cruel administrators as yourself.

I demand that :

  1. An inquiry be held to identify the culprits and black sheep of your organisation who have historically failed to implement labour and safety laws at mines. These individuals be proceeded against for murder charges.
  2. Hundred percent mines be registered as formal organisations and allowed to work only after all safety precautions / equipment / procedures and facilities have been made available.
  3. All contract work be replaced by regular employment of miners.
  4. All Miners be registered with EOBI and Social Security.
  5. The Mine company must pay monthly stipend to any worker who loses a limb or receives any other permanent injury in a mine accident.
  6. Single entry operations be completely banned, as they create death traps and No-Return possibility for mine workers.
  7. No one who is under 18 years of age or does not possess a CNIC, should be employed in any mine in any capacity.
  8. An accurate record of mine workers, with CNIC numbers, in each mine be digitally maintained and monitored on continuous basis, simultaneously by mines as well as all concerned government departments.

Your response will be deeply appreciated and also necessary before we raise this issue before international bodies to intervene and come for aid of our highly exploited and cruelly treated mine workers.

Sincerely,

Naeem Sadiq

To give you some feel of humanity and the conditions you provide to the helpless and exploited mine workers, kindly have a look at this short video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZc0yfiVtZ0