Magampura Port debacle continues Port workers stage Satyagraha after 48 days on the street

By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan in Magampura-2018-01-07


Two-Hundred-and-Forty-Eight (248) Port workers, who were 'evicted' when 85% stake of the Magampura Port in Hambantota was handed over to the Chinese, on 9 December 2017, on a 99-year lease, have now commenced a Satyagraha campaign.

These workers are highly concerned that they would soon be replaced by new recruits now that the China Merchants Port Holdings and its two allied local companies had taken over operations.

Soon after the takeover, the Chinese were busy refurbishing the 13-storey administration building Sayurupaya, located adjacent to the Magampura Port entrance.

The 'evicted' workers claim that the authorities kept avoiding them for the last 48 days, despite their many attempts to seek a solution to their plight.

Ceylon Today visited the Magampura Port last week and witnessed the protest that has entered 48th day today (Sunday).

The entire place is more of a 'closed' area due to the apparent 'challenges' the Chinese are facing from the locals over their presence in the country.

The security is tightened and no information whatsoever could be obtained from them. The guards did not even allow photographing the main administrative building of the Magampura Port.

The protesters commenced the Satyagraha yesterday (6) opposite the Magampura Port entrance and the Sayurupaya administration building. The workers hinted the Satyagraha will lead to a hunger strike soon, if no action is taken to resolve their issue.

The workers are demanding job security after the majority stakes were given to the Chinese.

It was revealed that as of now there are nearly 50 local drivers and supporting staff of around 170 employed at the Deep Southern Port, and the rest are now on the street protesting.

At Sayurupaya there are about 30 Chinese and less than 20 Sri Lankans working at the moment, reliable sources said.

Sources also revealed that workers of ZPMC Lanka Company (Private) Limited, which is a Board of Investment of Sri Lanka approved company, a joint venture between Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company Limited of China, are offering the maintenance services at the Magampura Port too.

There is also a main housing complex, which has been earmarked for the Chinese workers, and some of them who began operations at the Port way back in 2010 under China Harbour are living inside the compound with facilities offered to them.

However, the protesters claim that they were the first batch recruited when the first phase of the Port was opened in 2012.

Having received proper training on Port affairs their job was secured well enough that several years later many of them have obtained bank loans to upgrade their living conditions which is part of the development of the country and its people's standards of living.

The workers who were seated under the makeshift tin sheds said that they were 'forced out' on 30 November 2017, after they expressed the wish to remain under the flag of Sri Lanka Ports Authority. However, as 85% stake of the Port is with the Chinese, they were urged to adhere to the new terms and conditions, which they refused.

Workers' woes

"Five years of service from the day one the Port came into operation and now we are on the road," laments G. Buddhika Prasad (27), who is the spokesperson for the protesting workers.

"The SLPA is 'mum' as they seem to have no say on this."

He said at the Colombo Port they received 18 months training in handling a Port before they were dispatched to Magampura.

Prasad, a Management Assistant who was working at the 13-storey Sayurupaya administration office, says, "Nearly 100 local workers from the office have been denied jobs, which is completely unacceptable."

It is also alleged that these protesters were 'aligned' with the thinking of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who also denounced handing over of the Port to the Chinese on a 99-year lease.

"We are apolitical, and what we want is job security." Prasad went on to say that on 30 November 2017 when they went to work, they were stopped and urged not to enter the premises and the gate was shut on them.

The major issue of the workers is that they had obtained bank loans up to Rs 3 million and many have signed as guarantors for each other.

However, the SLPA has promised each worker Rs 250,000 as compensation. "This compensation is a pathetic settlement," noted the protesters.

The workers are demanding that they should be reinstated in their former positions at the Magampura Port or transfer to another State-run Port in the country. "We demand our rightful jobs or compensation should be not less than Rs 5 million," the protesters demanded.

The irate protesters also said that they were granted their last month salaries with no overtime or other allowances, which is affecting the repayment of the loans they had obtained from various banks.

At the beginning of December, the SLPA obtained a Court order to halt workers of the Hambantota Port from entering its premises and a petition was filed in the Hambantota District Court against the Magampura Port Workers' Union (MPWU), the Union Secretary and the Magampura Port Management Company Ltd., with the intention of preventing workers from causing harm to property.

The workers asked why they would damage the Port that supported their lives. They also said that this case was filed when Labour Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne referred their case to arbitration.
Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development and State Minister of Mahaweli Development, Mahinda Amaraweera, who hails from Hambantota and Minister of Labour had agreed to look into the issue as they have recognized that the workers are part of the Magampura Port, the protesters noted.

The next Arbitration taken up by S. Virithamulla will be heard on 25 January, the workers said. They also alleged that the eviction comes as part of the plan laid by the SLPA Chairman, who executed it along with Magampura Port Chairman Sugath Handunge.

China debt trap

The Port of Hambantota, having approximately 800 hectares (8 km2) of ample lands for an industrial zone, is going to be one of the biggest Port related industrial zones in the South Asian region, according to the Sri Lanka Port Authority.

However, the situation at Hambantota Port proved to be rather pitiful as in 2015 only 19 ships were handled. But, as of 2017 it appears to be picking up, despite the annual loan repayment commitment for SLPA was around Rs 9.1 billion.

By the end of 2016, the cumulative loss suffered by the Port was over Rs 46.7 billion, the SLPA noted.

The Cabinet of Ministers agreed to execute another strategic plan to give away the Port almost fully to the Chinese, in order get out of the massive debt trap.

Under the renewed contract, the public-private operations in Hambantota Port is carried out on a transactional value of US$ 1.4 billion while all immovable and movable properties will be transferred to two Sri Lankan companies such as the Hambantota International Port Services Co. (Pvt) Ltd. (HIPS) and Hambantota International Port Group (Pvt) Ltd. (HIPG) which directly works under the flagship of the China Merchants Port Holdings that runs the show.

According to the agreement, the Government will have the sole power and be the authority over activities involving military personnel, type of activities of military nature whether on land, air or or sea, on shore or offshore within the territory of Sri Lanka.

Vice Chairman of China Merchant Port Holdings Dr. Hu Jianhua, recently said 60 years of Sri Lanka-China came to rescue Sri Lanka when there was a global recession.

It was at that time that former President wanted some projects in Sri Lanka.

Rajapaksa told this paper in an interview recently that he asked India to help but they took no notice of the situation and at the projects when the country wanted." India has its own way of handling its bureaucracy usually a very slow in process and it was the Chinese who came to our rescue," he told this paper.

Sri Lanka is located on the East West shipping line – a strategic maritime location high in demand.
"This demand should always be in favour of Sri Lanka and not let others rip off the wealth to sustain other countries' goals above Sri Lanka and its people," the workers urged.

"We denounce everything that is going on. Giving away the land, manpower and the control of the Port just to get away from the debts is surely not a clever plan because we have a demand and it should be a 50-50 deal. That is the right deal," the workers said.

Ceylon Today attempted contact the Chinese Embassy and the SLPA, to learn their response to the plight of the 248 workers. However, those attempts fell on deaf ears.

When Ceylon Today sought permission to enter the Magampura Port, the Chinese Embassy responded with an email that the officials were 'so busy these days after the handover of the Port to them, therefore they have to ask approval from the head office in China about any visit'!
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