Buchanan, Grand Bassa County – An organization under the banner “Grand Bassa Liberia District Three Civil Organization In The Americas” (GBALDITCOA) is calling on the Liberian Government to enforce existing laws on industrial safety for employees.
In their call on the government, they condemned the recent cruel death of Emmanuel Joe, an employee of the Liberia Agricultural Company (LAC).
According to a press release signed by three members of the GBALDITCOA’s Crisis Intervention Committee, many citizens of Grand Bassa County’s Wee Statutory District continue to suffer physical and mental distress as a result of inadequate and unreliable safety measures at LAC plantation.
The mentioned in their press statement that their attention has been drawn to missing or disappearing of individuals, including baby at LAC Hospital, kidnapping, cold bloody murders, and explosion, amongst others.
The organization mentioned that most of the incidents are still being investigated by the Government of Liberia for years with no redress.
“As we await the pending investigation and intervention, our emotions and thoughts continue to jiggle us with recurrent thoughts: Who killed Emmanuel Joe? And why?”
On August 21, 2021, Emmanuel Joe, an employee of LAC, got killed in a cruel industrial accident at the company’s rubber processing station.
Joe, a productive son of Grand Bassa County, met his untimely death while servicing the processing machine.
The group believes that LAC is not only in error for generating this horrible accident but has failed to provide ideal safety measures to safeguard its employees and patients at its hospital.
GBALDITCOA further demands benefits from LAC for the families of the late Joe and all other victims.
“We find it puzzling, if not awful to comprehend that a company with decades of history is inept to provide the ideal occupational safety practices and policies. Beyond this line, we are compelled to say that LAC should be held liable and appear in a court of competent jurisdiction to address why there are deficiencies in providing the necessary occupational safety procedures for our people,” GBALDITCOA said in its release.
GBALDITCOA is a not-for-profit humanitarian and advocacy group comprising of the sons and daughters of Wee Statutory District in Grand Bassa County, living at home and abroad.