Singur Redux: Co pulls out of Haldia

Singur Redux: HBT says got no help from Mamata govt; TMC-backed MP owns port's only other cargo firm.

Citing unsafe work conditions, cargo handling company Haldia Bulk Terminals (HBT) on Wednesday announced its immediate exit from West Bengal's Haldia port.

Problems have been brewing at the dock complex, run by the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT), since HBT sacked 275 employees last month stating they were surplus. Operations of the firm, jointly promoted by ABG Shipyards of India and French logistics company LDA, have been hit since mid-September, with the retrenched workers, backed by the Trinamool Congress, agitating inside and outside the port along with trade union workers.

On Sunday, the firm alleged that three of its employees as well as the family members of one had been abducted by outsiders, who released them later after warning them not to return to Haldia.

The pullout came a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee assured that full police protection was being provided at Haldia. She also claimed that everything was normal at the port and allegations of violence were media concoctions.

With ABG-LDA pulling out, the only other cargo handler to stay in operation is Ripley & Company Ltd, which is owned by the family of Swapan Sadhan (Tutu) Bose, a former Trinamool Congress-backed Rajya Sabha member. Bose's son, Srinjoy, is a sitting Rajya Sabha member backed by Trinamool Congress. While HBT operated two mechanised berths, Ripley has handling rights for nine non-mechanised berths.

Announcing the pullout, HBT CEO Gurdeep Malhi said: "With a deep sense of disappointment we have to inform you that we have been left with no option but to walk out from the Haldia dock complex with immediate effect... The ever worsening situation at Haldia has left us feeling betrayed and we hope that the elements responsible for driving us out of Haldia are brought to justice... We cannot work in an environment where the authorities responsible for ensuring law and order and success of the project have openly abandoned their responsibilities... The economy of West Bengal has once again been denied growth, modernisation and development."

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