Afghan Gas Enterprise workers go on strike

SHIBERGHAN (Pajhwok): Dozens of workers and engineers of the Afghan Gas Enterprise in northern Jawzjan province on Thursday went on strike after the expiry of their deadline for removal of the enterprise head.

The Afghan Gas Enterprise currently handles oil and gas extractions and their management to meet the needs of Shiberghan, and Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital city of Balkh province.

The workers had set Wednesday their deadline for the director to be removed. They accused the director, Saleh Mohammad, of negligence in duty and corruption.

Deputy Governor Abdur Rahman Mahmoodi told Pajhwok Afghan News a delegation from Kabul had been in Shiberghan to resolve the issue, but the workers did not trust the delegation and called for another team to solve their problem.

Mahmodi said the central government officials had promised to address the issue over the next two days.

But a worker of the Afghan Gas Enterprise, Azizur Rahman said: “We do not trust the central government delegation. We need a delegation from the Presidential Palace or the Attorney General Office to solve our problem.”

Rahman asked the government to suspend the enterprise director until the new delegation arrived in Jawzjan.

An engineer, Mohammad Yasin, said there was no need for any assessment of the issue because all the enterprise staff had gone on strike seeking removal of Saleh Mohammad.

He said he had evidence Mohammad was involved in negligence and corruption but he could not reveal the evidence to the media.

But Eng. Mohammad Ali Behsudi, who led the delegation to Jawzjan, said they should investigate the issue before sharing any information with the media.

Two days earlier, workers of the Afghan Gas Enterprise said the director’s performance had been poor and called him a careless and corrupt person.

They said they had been without salaries for the past seven months and accused the director of receiving the amount of their salaries for personal use.

Pajhwok tried to seek comment from Saleh Mohammad on the issue, but he did not respond.

mds/ma