Monrovia – Bea Mountain Mining Corporation has informed the government of Liberia that it will shortly redundant 52 employees within its construction and mining departments.
In a March 12, 2019 letter to the Minister of Labor Moses Y. Kollie, a copy which FrontPage Africa has seen, the company states that it is taking the decision because it no longer needs the existing amount of workforce.
“A decision has been made to make redundant some employees of the exploration and construction departments, as work programs associated with those departments have come to an end,” the letter, signed by the company’s General Manager Debar W. Allen, states.
Currently, the exploration department has a total of 29 employees and 23 are expected to be redundant, while the construction department, which has a current total of 51 employees will see 39 persons losing their jobs.
However, the company, which mainly operates mines in Bomi and Grand Cape Mount Counties, stressed in the letter to the Liberian government that it will conduct the redundancy in accordance with the country’s labor laws.
“Please be assured that the process will conform to the laws of the Republic and the Collective Bargaining Agreement we have with the United Workers Union of Liberia,” the letter adds.
It is unclear when the Bea Mountain redundancy will begin, but the news comes as one of the country’s biggest employers announced Monday that it will shortly lay off 800 workers.
Firestone Natural Rubber Company, the largest rubber plantation in the country, announced that it will be cutting scores of jobs.
The company outlined several turbulent economic issues troubling its investments in Liberia – a country reputable for its vast and lucrative rubber plantations back in the 1970s.
“After a thorough and strategic review of its current operations in Liberia, West Africa, Firestone Natural Rubber Company, an indirect subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas, Inc., has announced the difficult decision to reduce its workforce by 13% (approximately 800 employees) by early second quarter of 2019 at the company’s Firestone Liberia operation. Headcount reductions will take place throughout the company’s operations, and include retirements, the discontinuation of certain work contracts, and redundancies,” Firestone said in a statement.
The news comes as a big blow to the George Weah administration following a recent report by a team of experts of the International Monetary Fund warning that the country risks more economic woes if it does not institute “strong policy actions.”
The administration is yet to react to the imminent loss of jobs, which could significantly impact the already hardship in the country.