By Joseph S. Margai in Freetown, Sierra Leone
Some 468 ex-workers of Freetown Waste Management Company (FWMC) on Thursday, February 8, 2018, protested against the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) for failing to pay them their redundancy package and ‘end of service benefi’t since they were redundant in 2013.
The aggrieved workers were laid off when MASADA took over the cleaning of the city from the Freetown Waste Management Company, and have since not been given their November 2013 salaries and other fringe benefits.
The 468 workers gathered at Youyi Building premises in Freetown where they demanded their benefits and vowed not to vote, if their demands are not met before the general elections.
Maligie Koroma, head of the 468 ex-workers of FWMC, said they have struggled for a very long time to get the attention of MLGRD to pay them their redundancy packages but to no avail.
“Since we were redundant in 2013 by FWMC, we have never benefited for all our services we have rendered to the municipality of Freetown for many years. All of us have our redundant letters and we have decided not to vote until we are paid by the ministry,” he said.
He revealed that since they were redundant, they have been struggling to get jobs in the country, especially at a time when the unemployment rate is very high.
He added that some of them do not know how to do petty trading in order to earn their living, noting that some of his colleagues who wanted to embark on petty trading were financially-handicapped.
“While we are waiting for our benefits, we have faced lots of problems in our various localities. Some of us have been given quit notices at our premises and some of us have accumulated huge sum of debts from financial institutions to solve some domestic problems,” he explained.
He revealed that he had already served as a guarantor for debts of fourteen million Leones (Le14m) for some of the ex-workers of FWMC, who had taken loans to pay school fees for their children and settle some other problems.
Maligie Koroma could not tell the exact amount of money that the government should pay the aggrieved workers but said it is a huge sum.
Efforts were made by this press to have the Minister of Local Government to comment on the issue but to no avail. The Director of Local Government refused to comment on the issue and told the press to wait on the minister.
