Industrial Climate Worsens In State

[admin]

HBT walks out, Bengal loser in Haldia mess
Cargo Co Cites Unsafe Work Conditions
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata: After a month-long impasse, riddled with complaints of violence, cargo handling firm Haldia Bulk Terminals (HBT) on Wednesday announced it was quitting Haldia port because of unsafe work conditions. The immediate trigger for the pullout seems to have been the alleged kidnap of three of its officials around midnight on Monday.
Only a day ago, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had said all was well at Haldia. It was her first comment in the entire controversy. The Bengal administration has consistently denied there was anything wrong at Haldia port but HBT — jointly promoted by French logistics company LDA and ABG group of India — made its anguish known on Wednesday.
“With a deep sense of disappointment we have to inform you that we have been left with no option but to walk out from Haldia Dock Complex with immediate effect. The ever-worsening situation at Haldia has left us feeling betrayed,” HBT CEO Gurdeep Malhi said in a media statement.
“The economy of Bengal has once again been denied the opportunity of growth, modernization and development. Indian and foreign investors will succeed in finding other locations which are investor-friendly and conducive for business. Sooner rather than later, Bengal will have to choose to make itself attractive and viable for investors, otherwise progress will continue to elude the state,” Malhi remarked. “We cannot work in an environment where the authorities responsible for ensuring law and order and success of the project have openly renounced and abandoned their responsibilities,” he said.
HBT informed the Calcutta high court and the KoPT management of its decision on Wednesday. Its counsel Samaraditya Pal told the vacation bench of Justice Dr Sambuddha Chakrabarti the decision was solely guided by deteriorating law and order in Haldia. HBT to demand compensation
KoPT chairman-incharge Manish Jain termed HBT’s actions as “obnoxious”. Unless HBT resumes operations, KoPT will be forced to impose the ‘risk-purchase’ clause, under which HBT would have to bear the additional expenses that the port would incur in appointing a fresh contractor, he said.
HBT says it will also seek compensation from KoPT. “We know KoPT won’t agree to pay us. We will then wait for the court’s decision. There is no question of paying compensation to KoPT. We fulfilled all our obligations. We were simply not given an environment to work. We shall also demand repayment of the money paid for police protection,” Malhi said. In the letter of ‘termination of contract’ to KoPT, HBT has blamed the port authority for its problems.
Jain said HBT had no right to terminate the contract. “We won’t allow their equipment to leave the HDC premises. We asked them to tell us about their problems. They never told us of the problems such as excess manpower or non-deposit of PF and ESI contributions. We urged them not to go for retrenchment as this may lead to a law-and-order situation. We went out of our way to ensure smooth operations at HDC but they took steps that can make us lose face before trade,” Jain said.
Malhi said HBT was suffering huge losses at Haldia. “We sustained a loss of nearly Rs 60 crore in the last couple of years. We were made to believe that we would get to handle 18 million tonnes of cargo per year. We should have got at least 50% of that volume. KoPT defaulted on its obligation to allot us this volume due to vested interests. In August this year, we informed KoPT that unless we receive 9 million tonnes of cargo every year, we would have to suspend operations,” Malhi said.
Jain says KoPT never assured HBT any minimum tonnage. “We simply agreed to try and ensure that their berths are never vacant. Never has it happened that one of their berths remained empty while a ship waited at the Sandheads,” he said.