KOHAT: The people living in the vicinity of Kohat Cement Factory have complained that dust and fumes emitting from the factory kilns are causing serious diseases among them.

A jirga of local elders, in a statement issued here on Sunday, said that emissions from the two kilns of the factory had been causing serious health problems for the people.

They said that continuous blasts in the mountains near the factory had also caused cracks in the houses of local people but the factory administration was not ready to listen to their complaints and provide assistance for repair of the damaged house.

The elders said that the factory administration was made bound under an agreement that it would pay surface rent to the people on whose collective land the factory had been built, but no dues were paid to people since 1992.

The statement said that the agreement of providing 80 per cent jobs in the factory to local people as their due right was also being violated blatantly.

The jirga said that earlier the factory was run on electricity but later it switched to coal which polluted the air to dangerous levels.

Published in Dawn January 12th , 2014

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