Bui Workers Want Govt Intervention

Ghanaian workers at the Bui hydroelectric Power site have called on Government, the Labour Commission, Trade Union Congress of Ghana (TUC), and the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), to come to their aid, as the working conditions at the site were terrible.

The workers complained over poor working conditions such as inadequate salary, poor accommodation, transportation, lack of protective gear, poor safety and security measures, intimidation and sexual harassment on female workers by the Chinese.

According to the workers, all these complainst were put before the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Tain, Bintu Ibrahim Farizana, when she paid her first familiarization visit to the site, and interacted with the workers, she has failed to do something about the situation.

The workers said the DCE was informed about the problems, and some grievances encountered after their recruitment to work at the site, but to their amazement, the DCE who they thought was there in their interest, had rather disappointed them, making the depressed.

According to the workers, some of the comments made by the DCE were so irritating that they even wanted to attack her. The workers allege that when they complained about their salaries and mode of payment, the DCE referred to them as ingrates, who did not appreciate anything good.

They quoted her as saying that the current minimum wage in the country was GH¢2.25p, therefore she did not understand why they were not satisfied with the GH¢3.00 they were receiving daily.

The DCE also rubbished the claim by the workers that they were sleeping in cubicles. They again quoted the DCE as saying that she did not even get such a facility to use during her school days, and that they were lucky to have them.

On their transportation system, where the workers are conveyed to and from work in a tipper truck, which is also used for carrying sand and stone, the DCE said they were very lucky to have means of transport, to and from work on a daily basis, because they used to walk for several miles to their various farms before the Bui project.

When The Chronicle contacted the DCE at her office, she admitted she visited the site and interacted with the workers, who disclosed all the above-mentioned problems to her, and members of the Assembly, who accompanied her.

She, however, refuted the allegations that she was insensitive to their plight, adding that she even interacted with the authorities in charge, led by one Mr. Boateng, to do something about the working conditions at the site, because she witnessed lots of the complaint by the workers herself.

On the salary of the workers, the DCE said she advised the workers to have patience, since that was asubject for negotiations, as the minimum wage in the country was GH¢2.25p, but the Chinese were paying GH¢3.00.

Madam Bintu said the workers were advised to manage the current accommodation situation, because there were not enough to cater for all.

She said the allegation of sexual harassment by the Chinese, against the female workers, was put forward alongside other intimidations, which she discussed with the authorities at an indoor meeting, and promised that she would take the matter up till the situation improved.

She was however surprised to hear the workers making such wild allegations of insensitivity on her part, and appealed for their cooperation, instead of accusations, to make life at the site congenial, in the interest of the country.