Workers Express Job Fears
By Azlan Othman

Bandar Seri Begawan - The sound of silence from relevant agencies on the fate of over 100 workers of PSA Muara Container Terminal (MCT) seems to cause concern in various quarters, especially among those who are currently employed there.

A staff member said a 30-minute briefing was held with the Ministry of Communications, Ports Department and the staff; discussing their fate last Wednesday.

"It is quite disappointing that there is no job guarantee for us to boost our spirit," said one staff member who had been working since the Terminal began operations. We want to know the efforts made to guarantee jobs. He said some of the trailer drivers aged over 40 years old may not be able to find employment. Another worker said they were informed about the situation early January this year. "We heard rumours about this issue and it became even more concrete when a tender was advertised in the local newspaper in mid January," he said.

"But during the briefing last Wednesday, the job issue remained hanging as there was no assurance that we wilfbe employed again. We were made to understand that after April 1, the authority will 'sub-contract' the handling before the new operator comes in.

"However, only a small portion, particularly the skillful one has the chance to be recruited. But we want everybody to be employed back. We don't want to add to the current statistics of over 7,000 jobseekers in Brunei."

The staff said they were happy with the job condition where the welfare was taken care of by PSA. `'We receive salaries on time and the job was secure. In addition, there was life insurance, bonus and social activities being held. PSA Singapore is even helping recommend us to work in Singapore and extend the employment pass of the foreign workers (after March 31, 2007) till they get a new job."

Sources revealed that the company is performing well with over half a million or to be more specific, 580,000 TEU of containers being handled since 2000 till 2006.

"We did not know the reason behind such premature end. All we know is that we are trapped in between. We are just hoping that it will be a smooth job transition. It was learnt that another briefing would be held today (Saturday) with the Ministry of Communications, Ports Department along with the Labour Department."

Meanwhile, PSA MCT authoritative sources said they were hopeful that the job issue could be resolved soon. If required by the relevant authority, we are ready to continue to operate until a new operator can be appointed.

"This would be beneficial for both the staff and the potential operator in a sense where all existing staff will continue to have jobs during the evaluation process and likelihood of re-employment by the new operator." -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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