PUL-E-KHUMRI (SW): As many as 600 miners protested in northern Baghlan province on Saturday against the privatization of Karkar Coal Mine in the province.
The protestors said that it has been more than a month now that the Afghan Coal, a privately-owned company, has taken the charge of Karkar coal mine in the province, and has forced 582 employees to leave their jobs.
The protestors warned that if the government did not reclaim Karkar coal mine, they would stage a massive demonstration and would block the Kabul-Baghlan highway.
Eng. Wasi and Sakhidad, two employees who represented the protestors, told Salam Watandar that Karkar Coal Mine is a public entity and no one has the right to privatize it. They told journalists that as many as 520 workers including 62 security guards have been fired. They urged upon the government to create jobs for them.
This comes at a time when a month ago, as many as 42 employees and laborers at Karkar Coal Mine were abducted by unknown gunmen, but were released later.
Eng. Dad Muhammad Zazai, the director of Shamal Coal Mines has said in this regard that he would take the issue to the President and to the Minister of Petroleum and Mines. He promised that they would address this issue as soon as possible.
Baghlan is one of the richest mining provinces in the country with a number of coal mines, which are situated in Tala-wa-Barfak, Dahsalah-e-Andarab, Nihrain and Pool-e-Khomri districts of the province.
The Afghan Coal Company is a private company that has taken the charges of Karkar Coal Mine and Ghori Cement Company.
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