Over thousand jobs on the line as import disinfection exercise suffers setback

At a time when government is instituting measures to ensure the unemployment gap in the country is bridged, there seem to be deliberate efforts by some unseen hands in government to thwart this initiative.

This is because investors who come into the country and have the capacity of employing thousands of Ghanaians end up being frustrated by the very same people and institutions that are supposed to ensure the growth and survival of these investors in the country for unknown reasons.

As of 2015, Ghana’s unemployment rate stood at a frightening 11.9 percent, according to the Ghana Labour Force Survey Report issued by the Ghana Statistical Service.

MyNewsGH.com has established that LCB Worldwide Ghana Limited, an indigenous Ghanaian Company which has been contracted by government to disinfect all imports and exports at the ports and points of entry currently employs close to 1,000 Ghanaians stationed at the company’s head office, its several offices in Tema and at its tunnel sites in the ports of Tema and Takoradi.

When fully operational, the company will employ more than a thousand Ghanaians. Already, the company has constructed some 12 disinfection tunnels, 8 in the port of Tema and 4 in the port of Takoradi and these were done by a local contractor by name SOD Construction Limited, using Ghanaian artisans.

LCB Worldwide Ghana Limited which was supposed to commence the disinfection exercise in March this year our investigations uncovered is already 3 months behind schedule as a result of some hitches it suffered in the lead up to the rollout of the project.

The Company has already invested millions of dollars in the project as it is pre-financing the entire project while the thousand employees continue to draw salary for no work done.

The government of Ghana has not and is not expected to spend a dime on the project. The question many industry players are asking is why a company having secured a legally binding contract with government and clothed with the mandate of helping the country prevent and contain where necessary, infectious diseases from entering the country would be made to suffer such a fate.

It is important to ensure whoever is placed in a position of responsibility, particularly with respect to attracting investors into the country and ensuring that they succeed are up to their game and not the other way round.

Management of the company will not comment on the development when reached for their comment, but sources disclosed that if the current trend persists, there is the likelihood that employees who have been employed in anticipation of the commencement of work, may be asked to go home.

Already, half of the young employees have been shown the exit with many more in the queue to go if urgent steps are not taken to ameliorate whatever hitch it is that has prevented the company from commencing operations.

When MyNewsGH.com visited the company’s premises in the port of Tema, many of the young employees who hitherto were basking in the joy of gaining employment with the company in order to cater for their needs and those of their families complained bitterly about the layoffs and expressed worry about the imminent sack that awaited them should government not intervene.