Affected villagers besiege hard rock mine for jobs
Villagers around Madhyapara Granite Mining Company Ltd (MGMCL) yesterday besieged the mine demanding employment of eligible locals.
They also threatened to go for tougher agitation if no urgent step is taken in this regard.
Madhyapara Odhikar Rakkha Committee, an organisation of villagers around the mine in Parbatipur upazila, organised the programme.
Earlier, the villagers informed the MGMCL authorities about their programme on Sunday.
Sources said, about 1000 villagers yesterday morning gathered in front of MGMCL gate at Madhyapara Bazaar and brought out a procession chanting slogans in favour of their demand.
At about 11:10am they sat down in front of the mine's gate and continued the besiege programme till 5:00pm.
The programme disrupted activities of MGMCL officials but it did not hamper production, the mine authorities said.
During the daylong besiege, the agitating villagers also held a rally in front of MGMCL gate, where the speakers threatened to launch a greater agitation to realise their demand. Md Mujahidul Islam, president of Madhyapara Odhikar Rakkha Committee said that MGMCL should provide jobs to the villagers as they sacrificed their land for the sake of the project.
MGMCL is now being operated in a single shift by recruiting 292 miners from different places. The mine is designed to run three shifts but the authorities are yet to implement it, the speakers said.
The mine authorities last year recruited a few officials and staff from outside but they are yet to consider the surrounding villagers, they pointed out.
Terming it unfortunate, the speakers accused the authorities of depriving the locals who had sacrificed their land for the mine project.
Contacted, Abul Basar, general manager (finance and administration), MGMCL, said the authorities right now have no plan to recruit manpower. However, local people will get priority during recruitment in future, he said.
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