MONROVIA — Employees at the James Spriggs Payne Airport, a Domestic Airport in Monrovia, have threatened to shut down all activities at the airport following management’s alleged failure to pay salary arrears it owes them.
By Edwin G. Genoway, Jr (231886458910)-[email protected]
The aggrieved domestic airport workers are alleging that management owes them over seven months salary, with absolutely no assurance of said debt being settled anytime soon.
They said the alleged refusal of the local airport authority to settle their arrears over the last seven months has caused serious psychological and emotional problems for them and their respective families.
The angry airport employees have therefore threatened to shut down the entire facility in an attempt to claim the attention of President George Weah and his government.
The aggrieved James Sprigs Payne airport workers bemoaned the impact adverse effect of said act by management in the midst of serious economic constraints facing the country.
They noted that every effort by them to claim management’s attention to the matter has yielded no results as the problem continues to persist.
They warned that the local airport will remain closed until their plights are amicably resolved by management.
The agitated workers are meanwhile, calling for an immediate intervention by the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority (LCAA), the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning as well as the office of the President in order to have the matter settled.
“Imagine working for six-seven months without salary, and you have to attend to family and personal needs. To even pay transportation fare to and from work everyday is a problem. We don’t deserve this form of treating in our own country while other employees of Government are regularly receiving their salaries and benefits on time,” they alarmed.
They at the same time accused the Manager of the airport, Emmanuel Tarplah, of collecting fees from services offered at the airport without any report.
The domestic airport is frequently used by Eco World Airlines.
The Eco World Airlines (EWA) landed its Maiden Flight at the James Spriggs Payne Airport in Monrovia on January 14, 2023.
The Airline is a commercial Airline aimed at providing daily domestic flights from the James Spriggs Payne Airport to Maryland, Sinoe, Grand Gedeh, and Lofa Counties.
Documents in the possession of FrontPageAfrica show that other airlines like MAF and MNG Gold are all in compliance with their payments of Airport Service Charges while Eco World Payment is not being reflected on payment vouchers.
The aggrieved employees accused Manager Tarplah of allegedly pocketing the payments by Eco World.
But the airport manager has however declined speaking on the issues after several attempts getting him to speak on the matter.
The aggrieved employees have also threatened to lock up the manager in his office, failure on his part to settle their arrears.
“If they want peace, let them tell us when they will give our money, the manager doesn’t care about us because he’s getting money from flights on a daily basis, if you look on our daily invoice and receipts, there are three flights constantly using the airport, and all of them do payment but only Eco World payment we don’t see because the manager eating it,”
The aggrieved employees said they have forwarded their complaints to District #9 Lawmaker, Frank Saah Foko, the board chairman of the Liberia Airport Authority, Musa Shannon but said nothing has been done.
When contacted, the Human Resource Manager of the local airport management team, Francis Kpaka promised to speak on the matter upon getting authority from his boss, Emmanuel Tarplah who was said to be in a meeting.