KOCHI: The standoff regarding the clearing of imported fertilisers was resolved on Monday with the Kerala Head Load Workers’ Welfare Board officials and leaders of various trade unions expressing their willingness to supply labourers from different pools. The cause of the shortage was the compartmentalisation of labour into various water-tight pools within the Welfare Board where over 2,500 workers are registered. Despite the lack of work for labourers in other pools, they could not be spared by the board resulting in shortage amidst plenty. The Welfare Board was able to supply only around 40 workers on an average against a demand of 120.The issue of low rate of clearance of imported fertilisers from Cochin Port had created an adverse impact in the agricultural sector at a time when the prices of fertilisers are skyrocketing. Thousands of tonnes of urea and potash imported by the Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT) and the Indian Potash Limited are piling up in the go-downs of the CPT for want of labourers to clear them.FACT imported 24,000 tonnes of urea and it reached Kochi on November 18. However, only 3,000 tonnes have been sent out of the port so far. Potash was imported by the Indian Potash Limited and it reached by vessel MV Emanet on November 6. However, of 27,000 tonnes of potash, only 12,000 have been packed and forwarded out of the port.“The unions collectively decided to have a transparent system of deployment where first preference will be given to workers in the specified pool where the work originates and in the event of further requirement, willing workers from other pools will be deployed,” port authorities said. “The trade unions representing the head load workers engaged in the cargo clearance activities of the Cochin Port have decided to enhance productivity of cargo evacuation at the port,” they said. The decision was taken at a meeting convened by the Cochin Port Trust chairman Paul Antony, which was attended by the Labour Commissioner, Kerala Head Load Workers’ Welfare Board chairman and the leaders of various trade unions. Around 25 per cent urea requirement in India is met through import. India requires about 28 million tonnes of urea, out of which import accounts for 8 million tonnes.
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