Row over Subhendu threat

21 September 2012

biswabrata goswami
HALDIA, 21 SEPT: Trinamul Congress Tamluk MP Subhendu Adhikhari today threatened a Haldia port officer, demanding that he stop the unloading of coking coal from a ship at Berth 8.
The MP called port manager D Nayak and said that, if the cargo was unloaded from the ship, he would not allow a single truck carrying the cargo to leave the port.
This is the latest battle in an ongoing war at the Haldia Dock Complex over the apportionment of work unloading ships.
A few days ago, Haldia Bulk Terminal Pvt Ltd (HBT) had threatened to suspend its operations at the complex because it wasn't getting enough work handling cargo. It had been getting about 5 million tons a year, but wanted at least 7.5 million tons at Berth 2 and Berth 8. 
The issue went to court, and the High Court asked Kolkata Port Trust to resolve the matter through discussions with HBT. A meeting was convened and it was decided that HBT's berths would be given priority over other berths.
But this decision was not accepted by Trinamul Congress trade union leaders, who gheraoed the port's operational building at Chiranjibpur yesterday.
Today, when the MV Nanos, carrying coking coal, called at Berth 8, a group of Inttuc workers led by Mr Shyamal Adak gheraoed the Jawahar Tower office, administrative
headquarters of HDC, demanding that the ship be shifted to another berth, a port official said.
Mr Nayak, who was threatened by the MP, Mr Adhikari, wrote a letter to Kolkata Port Trust Chairman-in-Charge Manish Jain, asking him to handle the situation.
Anticipating a deterioration of the law-and-order situation inside the port, Mr Jain shot off a letter to the principal secretary of the state Home Department, urging him to take action.
"In the above perspective, there is need to take all possible actions so that unlawful labour unrest as happened yesterday to deter the port in implementing the order of the Hon'ble High Court may be dealt with so that the law-and-order situation both inside and outside the dock does not break down and there are no disruptions in normal port operations," Mr Jain wrote to the principal secretary.  To protest priority being given to HBT by the port officials, Mr Subhendu Adhikari today organised a rally in front of the main gate of the Haldia Dock Complex. He told port officials that if any worker loses his job due to their "partisan role," he will launch a greater movement against the port.
A port official said: "The protests that are going on are politically motivated. We are just following the direction of the court."