Monrovia – Following a story that we ran few days with this headline, ‘Sethi Brothers Accused of Deserting Injured Liberian Employee Involved in Car Accident’, at least two of the senior employees of the company have told FrontPageAfrica that what was reported is not entirely the true picture that was presented to the newspaper.
Mr. Edward Yarkpawolo, president of Sethi Brothers’ Workers Union and Cedrick Ilunga, Executive Director for Operations, have both told a different story from what the family of 32-year-old Amara Trawalley, who is the victim, had said about the company.
Trawalley’s family among other things accused Sethi Brothers Limited for allegedly abandoning their brother (Trawalley) after he was involved in a life-threatening car accident while reportedly on official duty for the company in 2018.
However, Sethi Brothers’ Operations man Ilunga, who claimed to have hired Trawalley, told FrontPageAfrica that the victim was never in the employ of Sethi Brothers.
“We used to do business with one Indian man, Balwant Singh. Mr. Singh, who is a heavy duty mechanic, used to repair our trucks whey they developed mechanical problems. When he was leaving the country last year, he recommended Amara to us as someone who was able to do the same job; and that whenever our trucks were having any mechanical problems, we could call him (Amara) to repair them. That was how we got to know him.”
“One of our trucks developed mechanical problems in Buchanan; so I called Amara and asked him if he could take the contract to go to Buchanan and do the repair. He agreed. That was going to be his first job for us since he was recommended to us,” Ilunga stated.
According to him, it was after three days after Amara had supposedly left for Buchanan on the same day that both of them had agreed, that he was informed that Trawelley had been involved in an accident on his way to Buchanan.
“So, I informed my bosses about this. Amara came to us. He was walking and everything seems normal except for minor pains he said was in his back. Even though he had not done the work, my boss gave him some money for treatment.”
He further narrated that after some days, Amara came back and said he wasn’t too well and that management should please help him to go to Guinea for treatment in the bush.
“So, management, out of their kind heart, gave him LS$200,000 (US$1,290) so that he would get well and it would have been deducted from pay for any repair works that he would have done in the future.”
Ilunga defended his employers that Trawelley has never been employed by the company.
Also speaking to FPA, Mr. Edward Yarkpawolo, who is the workers’ union president stated, too, that Trawalley is not an employee of the company; adding that whatever goodwill the company was doing was aimed at just helping a fellow human being.
“Now, what is happening to management, they are going to be afraid to help anyone now. These people always help people, but with this, they are not going to open their hands again. Now, their good has turned to bad,” Yarkpawolo said.
He disclosed that Trawelley’s family had taken Sethi Brothers’ management to the Ministry of Labor, which had thrown out the case after hearing from both sides.
“He even took the Indian people to the Ministry of Justice, too. After the people had gone through the case, they also dismissed the case telling Amara that he had no case against these people,” added Yarkpawolo.
The company’s workers union president wondered why Trawalley decided to come to the media since he had issued a lawsuit against the company and matter is before the court. “Does he want public sentiments?” he asked.
Trawalley and his family have filed a US$1.25 million lawsuit against Sethi Brothers for damages and the matter is now in court.
