A 17-year-old girl succumbed to injuries after metal rods collapsed at the construction site of the Mega Dry Port in Pasakha today. Nine other workers were also trapped under the rods during the mishap. While two of them sustained leg and jaw fractures, the remaining seven are in stable condition.
The incident happened at around 9.30 AM while working on the portion of a reinforced cement concrete (RCC) wall. According to the proprietor, similar works of around 40 metres of the wall have been completed recently and claims that last night’s earthquake is the main reason behind the collapse. He also denied that the company employed the underage worker which is against the Labour and Employment Act of Bhutan 2007*. He said the workers are supplied by three labour contractors who look after the labour recruitment. He said the management was in the process of reviewing the recruitment process when the mishap occurred.
The Southern COVID-19 Taskforce members and officials from the regional office of the Ministry of Labour and Human Resources also visited the site.
Currently, there are nearly 80 workers and the company is in short of skilled labourers. As per the proprietor, they have applied for skilled foreign workers but the government is yet to approve their proposal. The proprietor said that considering the COVID-19 situation, he has given employment opportunity to Bhutanese workers. Since Bhutanese are unskilled, he says, the efficiency at work is poor.
The company further assured to look after the affected family members. The father of the deceased also works at the same construction site.
The 1.2-kilometre RCC wall is the first phase of the country’s first-ever Mega Dry Port. It is supposed to complete by the end of this year. The construction was inaugurated earlier this month.
Sonam Penjor
* Labour and Employment Act of Bhutan 2007
Prohibition of the worst forms of child labour: (Section 9)
9. No person shall subject a child to:
(a) any form of practices such as sale and trafficking, debt bondage, forced or compulsory labour, including recruitment for use in armed conflict;
(b) the use, procuring or offering of the child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;
(c) the use, procuring or offering of the child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs;
(d) work under particularly difficult conditions such as work for long hours or during night or work where the child is unreasonably confined to the premises of the employer; or
(e) work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of a child including:
(i) work which exposes a child to physical, psychological or sexual abuse;
(ii) work underground, underwater, at dangerous heights or in confined spaces;
(iii) work with dangerous machinery, equipment or tools, or which involves the manual handling or transport of heavy loads; or
(iv) work in an unhealthy environment that may expose the child to hazardous substances, agents or processes, or to temperatures, noise levels, or vibrations damaging to his or her health.
