PESHAWAR: The mine workers belonging to Darra Adamkhel have demanded of the federal government to extend Employees Old Age Benefit Act (EOB-Act) and Workers Welfare Funds Ordinance (WWFO) to Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (Fata).

Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Monday, Pakistan Mine Workers Federation general secretary for Fata Sar Zameen Afghani said that government didn’t not take any steps for improvement of working conditions of mine workers.

He said that incidents of deaths were increasing in the mining sector. That was why the workers and their families were living in miserable condition, he added.

Accompanied by Fazal Rabi and other leaders of the federation, Mr Afghani said that a large number of workers were engaged in mining sector in Fata but they were kept deprived of the benefits and facilities as EOB-Act and WWFO were not extended to tribal areas.

Show concern over increasing incidents of deaths in mining sector

He lamented that the government had not taken any steps for improvement of working conditions of mine workers and prevention of the increasing incidents of deaths in mining sector and that was why the workers and their families were facing very miserable conditions.

Mr Afghani said the incidents of deaths of workers were on the rise in mining sector owing to non-implementation of the relevant laws.

He said that more than 833 mine workers lost their lives during over the last one decade in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata.

He urged the government to impart special training to mine workers to prevent the growing losses of precious lives in the mining sector.

He demanded of the government to facilitate mine workers in Fata through Worker Welfare Board (WWB) and extend other incentives to the heirs of dead workers by extending EOB-Act and WWFO to the tribal areas.

The leader of the miners expressed concern over ineffective implementation of Mine Act, 1923. He said that the law needed serious attention by the authorities concerned to mitigate the sufferings of miners in Fata.

Mr Afghani demanded of the government to take steps for establishment of regional rescue stations in Darra Adamkhel, Orakzai and Mohmand agencies.

The first requirement, he said, was provision of ambulances to all mining blocks in the tribal region so that the injured workers could be transported to hospitals easily in case of any accident.

Referring to the killing of mine workers by gas explosion in Loralai in Balochistan, Mr Afghani appealed to the government of Balochsitan to conduct a judicial inquiry into the incident and take action against the people responsible for the incident.

He also demanded representation of mine workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Workers Welfare Board. He said the miners were deprived of incentives and facilities as they had no representation in the board.

Mr Afghani welcomed the federal government new policy related to mining workers and expressed the hope that most of their issues would be resolved by its effective implementation.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2015

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