CHRONICLE INVESTIGATIONS into the alleged human rights abuses at a Chinese construction firm, Alhui Foreign Economic Construction Corporation (AFECC), have produced evidence of how two Ghanaian employees were physically attacked by their Chinese supervisors.
Chronicle gathered that George Addo, one of the victims, sustained an eye injury when Mr. Yong, a foreman, poked his finger his into eye for refusing to obey instructions from him.
Richard Nartey, the other victim, was said to have also sustained an injury on his right arm after being hit with a steel rod by Mr. Zhao, another foreman.
Narrating their ordeal to this paper, Nartey said they were working at the construction site of an accommodation complex for junior officers of the police service at the police depot in Accra on the afternoon of July 16, when a quarrel ensued between one of his colleagues and Mr. Zhao.
He said in an attempt to stop them from fighting, Zhao rather vented his anger on him. He alleged that Zhao tried to hit his head with an iron rod but it landed on his right arm resulting in a severe injury.
Frightened by the extent of injury, Nartey said he reported the incident to the Tesano police who invited Mr. Zhao for questioning.
According to Nartey, there had been tension at the work site earlier in the day when, Mr Yong assaulted Addo, a mason.
Mr. Yong was said to have instructed Addo who was laying a scaffold to come down and pick the blocks himself. But Addo insisted that it was not his job and that some one had to carry the blocks upstairs for him to carry on with his work. This infuriated Yong and in the process, he went ahead to attack the Ghanaian injuring him in the eye, when he tried to fight back.
Other abuses such as unlawful dismissal of workers and workers safety at work are common features of the company.
Robert Nkansah, 25, a mason who asked permission for four days to write examinations was fired without any reason on returning to work.
The workers dissatisfied with their continued employment as casual workers, some for over seven months embarked on a protest march to Burma Camp, where the company is also constructing a multi-purpose hall for the military, to present their grievances. This happened on July 16, 2003.
Last Monday, the Chronicle sighted officials of the Labour Office trying to solve the problem with the management of AFECC in the corporate office at Burma Camp.
Meanwhile, six workers, including the local union chairman, popularly known as Olu, had been sacked for being the ringleaders of the protest march.
When this paper contacted the Tesano Police Station to verify the allegations, the crime officer directed our reporters to the Police Headquarters.
Chronicle learnt of a meeting at the Police Depot on July 24, between the police, management of company and the workers to resolve these alleged human rights abuses.
Assistant public relations officer ASP Kwesi Ofori confirmed that the police are aware of the workers’ allegations and was investigating them.
The director of AFECC, Mr. Zhang, said that the workers have exaggerated some of the allegations and that he had personally asked his colleagues not to touch or beat up any worker when they misbehave but to report them to the appropriate quarters.
He said between Mr. Yong and Mr. Addo, he did not know who was telling the truth because Mr. Yong denied punching Addo’s eye.
Mr. Zhang, however, dismissed Nartey’s assertion that Zhao hit him with an iron rod, insisting that Zhao rather pushed him and in the process an iron rod scratched his hand.
Zhang attributed the problems to the language barrier that exists between the workers and the supervisors, saying he was doing everything possible to solve the problem.
Of late there have been rampant cases of manhandling of Ghanaian workers by their expatriate managers, which calls for urgent action by the authorities to curb such incidents.
Last year a Dutch national defecated in a bucket from which his workers drank water. A Malaysian director of the former Telecom Malaysia spat in his driver’s face while an Indian poured hot water into the ear of an employee at Tema Steel Company.
