Other States - Orissa   

POSCO prunes Korean staff

Special Correspondent

Sequel to government’s failure to facilitate land acquisition for the company

BHUBANESWAR: The failure on the part of the Orissa government to facilitate land acquisition for the POSCO-India’s steel project in Jagatsinghpur has made the company withdraw many Korean staff from its head office here.

The company has not been handed over any land so far in the proposed project site spread over three gram panchayats in Jagatsinghpur district of the State primarily due to people’s opposition to displacement and procedural delays at the administration level.

Out of the 90-odd staff working in POSCO-India office here earlier, as many as 38 were from overseas and the remaining from India. However, the number of Korean employees has already decreased to 18 by now.

At least eight more Korean employees of the company are likely to return by mid-August bringing their number to 10. The Korean employees were being withdrawn since they had no work in hand due to the delay in the implementation of the project, company sources said.

As a result, the total staff strength in the company’s office has come down to 62 from the total of 93 at point of time in the past.

It has been more than two years since the Korean company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Orissa government for the setting up of the mega steel project involving the biggest ever foreign direct investment of Rs. 51,000 crores in the country.

However, there has not been much progress at the ground level till date.

With the State government failing to apprise the villagers in Jagatsinghur of the benefits of the project, people’s opposition to the venture showing no sign of weakening so far.

The company authorities, on the other hand, is trying to put up a brave face.

“The company is confident, determined and committed to make this project happen,” a statement issued by the company said here on Tuesday. “Going by the recent developments, the company is happy to note that there is a greater understanding and wider consensus in favour of the project building up at all levels, notably among people in the project site,” the company claimed.

With regard to the reports in a section of the media about the withdrawing of overseas staff, the company said that there would be relocation of staff from overseas when the construction phase begins.

“The project is progressing well and all our staff located in India or in Korea are gearing up to organise rapid spadework for the success of the project,” the company said.

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