Friday, 29 March, 2024, 1:42 AM
Advance Search
Home

Padma Bridge rail contractor 'sorry' for injuring 8 workers

Published : Thursday, 7 May, 2020 at 10:24 PM  Count : 667

Padma Bridge rail contractor 'sorry' for injuring 8 workers

Padma Bridge rail contractor 'sorry' for injuring 8 workers


China Railway Group Limited (CREC), the contractor of Padma Bridge Rail Link Project, has termed Wednesday’s workers’ clash at its shelter camps in Mawa as ‘unfortunate’ incident and expressed sorrow over the matter, according to press release sent by the company.

The company also asked the government to take practical measures to ensure the legitimate rights and safety of the company personnel and prevent such incidents from happening again.
Unfortunately, at around 9 pm on May 6, in one of CREC’s shelter camps in Mawa where around 500 local workers are staying, a group of workers gathered and complained that the temporary allowances are insufficient, said the press release.

This gathering was organized by a few disgruntled workers who had been stopped from re-entering the isolated shelter camp after they had broken the isolation protocol and left the camp for their home in the nearby villages.

To avoid further escalation, some Bangladeshi security guards tried to maintain order. Facing the agitated workers, one of the guards opened his shotgun to the sky to deter the crowd. Eight workers were unfortunately left with scratches, bruises, and other minor injuries during the chasing and accidental shooting, and have been shifted to local hospitals for treatment.

We regret the happening of this incident and hope they can recover soon, said CREC.

At present the situation in this camp in Mawa has been brought back to normal while the rest 85 camps remain in their normal condition, it added.
CREC on the verge of the Coronavirus pandemic, has undertaken multiple steps to accommodate the well-being of the 4742 local workers of the project and to keep the implantation of the project uninterrupted in the current unusual situation.

“One of the key steps was to construct and maintain temporary shelters for the local workers so that they can stay in isolation from the nearby villages. From May 6, all of the local workers have been staying in a total of 86 such isolated shelter camps along the 170 km’s route of the project. It is noteworthy that

CREC are bearing the costs of food and shelter of the workers while the workers had to pay such costs on their own before they moved to those shelters.”

The press release said, “Moreover, all the workers who are willing to stay in the shelter camps are given an extra allowance of proper amounts per day. With such arrangements, the execution of the project is uninterrupted while the exposure of the workers to the risks of Covid-19 is avoided. Initially the workers were reluctant to shift. But within a short time, they found it much safer to stay in those isolated camps than stay in the neighboring villages and therefore most of them have chosen to move in.”

“It is mentionable that, CREC has had to spend huge additional costs for the above arrangements against the pandemic though it has not received any project interim payment from Bangladesh Railway, the project owner, in the last 23 months,” it added.

The company further said, “CREC always follows local laws and regulations and tries to give back to the local societies. In the meantime, we request the Government of Bangladesh to take practical measures to ensure the legitimate rights and safety of our personnel and prevent such incidents from happening again.”

GY

Padma Bridge project's six labourers shot for claiming dues

Related Topics

Padma Bridge rail contractor sorry  








Latest News
Most Read News
Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Online: 41053014; Advertisement: 41053012.
E-mail: info©dailyobserverbd.com, news©dailyobserverbd.com, advertisement©dailyobserverbd.com, For Online Edition: mailobserverbd©gmail.com
  [ABOUT US]     [CONTACT US]   [AD RATE]   Developed & Maintenance by i2soft