Mining at Maddhapara to resume after 132-day closure

Maddhapara Granite Mining Company (MGMCL) is getting ready to resume operations after remaining closed since the imposition of the countrywide shutdown on 26 March.

But the pandemic took a heavy toll on the local workers, most of whom work on the "no work, no pay" basis.

MGMCL plans to restart rock production on 15 August after remaining shut for 132 days.

"Production will resume within a week if everything goes according to plans," said ABM Kamruzzaman, managing director of the state-owned rock production company.

But to reopen the company, the local miners had to take to the streets. The shutdown rendered 800 Bangladeshi miners jobless employed by Germania Trest Consortium (GTC), the contracting company of MGMCL for production, maintenance and development.

MGMCL in Parbatipur upazila of Dinajpur had about 7.5 lakh tonnes of rock in its stock in March, which came down to 1.5 lakh tonnes on 9 August, as the company restarted sales in May.

"We have been demanding reopening of the mine since May," said Khorshed Alam, president of the MGMCL Miners' Association.

The miners used to gather in front of the company's gate and urged GTC to restart rock production so that they can earn something to feed their families, he said.

"But the company never paid heed to our call."

On 5 August, GTC allowed 800 miners to return to work thanks to the intervention of local lawmaker and former minister Mostafizur Rahman, Alam said.

MGMCL signed a new six-year contract with GTC in September 2013 and the earlier contractor North Korea's Namnam handed over the mine to GTC in February 2014.

GTC's contract ended in February this year, but it got a one-year extension as it failed to reach the target of producing 9.2 million tonnes of rock.

MGMCL has floated a tender to hire a new company for the mine. However, production at Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Ltd (BCMCL) in the same upazila has continued despite the pandemic.

China-based CMC-XMC Consortium, the contractor, kept the mine running by involving its 300 Chinese miners and by keeping away 1,147 local workers. In July, the company opened the door for 450 local miners.