Monrovia – About 3,950 slum dwellers, who worked on the suspended Reclaiming Liberia Beaches and Waterways Program, have threatened to stage a peaceful assembly at the offices of President George Weah if their 21-months’ salary arrears owed by the Government are not settled.
The Reclaiming Liberia Beaches and Waterways Program, which is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, was established during the administration of former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to give a facelift to waterways and beaches in Liberia, and to help provide employment opportunities for scores of slum dwellers.
In a communication dated June 8, 2020 and addressed to Justice Minister Counselor Frank Musa Dean and signed by the Head Monitors and Secretary General of the program respectively, stated that the aggrieved workers are currently living in frustration and hardship due to the delay in the payment of their arrears.
The aggrieved workers recalled that on March 1 this year, Youth and Sports Minister Zoegar Wilson pronounced the immediate closure of the project through “without any written acknowledgement to the workforce”.
According to them, Minister Wilson then invited the head monitor of the New Kru Town belt, Dekontee Woto, the Project Region Two-II Coordinator Edwin G. V. Kanneh, and Region-I Coordinator, George Young to a meeting to find a way forward for the project.
They maintained that additional three persons from the ministry, including the Assistant Youth and Sports Minister, Famatta Bracewell; Director for Monitoring and Evaluation Mr. Samuel Jallah, and Mr. John N. Sunday, Special Assistant to the Minister, were appointed March 28 to spearhead the committee.
The workers claimed that a six-man committee was tasked with the responsibility to determine the actual financial obligations of the government to the employees of the program, and to advance measures for the program restructuring.
But it seems the committee has not been able to find a way forward to pay the arrears of workers, who are now demanding answers.
“We, the underprivileged slum dwellers in tears, frustration and hardship, extend our compliment in respect to our country constitution which speaks of freedom of assembly,” said the concerned workers in a letter.
“We write to ask for security protection for the Beaches and Waterways Project entire workforce of 3,950 persons to stage a peaceful assembly at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, until a peaceful settlement can be reached beginning the 15th day of June 2020 in demand of our 21-months arrears”.
According to the slum dwellers, the delay in the payment of their salary arrears runs contrary to the pro-poor agenda of President Weah.
They added that although they were advised by authorities of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning to seek an audience with Minister Wilson, their calls to the Minister for a mitigation have fallen on deaf ears.
“We wrote the Minister seeking official audience with him, but to no avail, but he rather called only CDCians supervisors and observers on the project to a meeting at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, instead of the project’s leadership,” they letter continues.
“Hon. Justice Minister, from all these provocations, prejudicial and ancient approaches to our frustration, we are considered as non-partisans, non-Liberians, non-family men who need to send their children to school, pay their house rent and provide for their families.
The aggrieved workers continued: “We are left with no alternative but to protest in demand of our twenty-one months wages since the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Youth and Sports continue to show no interest in addressing this matter on hand”.
Speaking in an interview with FrontPageAfrica at his office in Paynesville, outside Monrovia, Minister Wilson admitted that government remains indebted to the aggrieved workers.
He disclosed that from 2018 to February 2020, government has not been able to settle its arrears owed slum dwellers who were working with the program.
He attributed his decision taken to suspend the program to financial and administrative improprieties complained by “some concerned community leaders,” who he did not name, against the coordinators of the program, George Young and Edwin G. V. Kanneh, and the lack of funding to continue.
Minister Kanneh disclosed that the two Regional Coordinators (Young and Kanneh) were suspended following complaints.
“The budgetary appropriation for the 2019/2020 budget year that government put in the budget for the Beaches and Waterways program — the amount of US$500,000 was expended after two pays,” Minister Wilson said.
“So, there was no money in the budget again to continue the program. And you know we are under this IMF program, and we cannot do off-budget spending. And so, we decided to suspend the program for that reason”.
According to him, the committee setup and chaired by his special assistant is reviewing modalities to ensure the restructuring of the program, and to also determine the total amount owed the aggrieved workers.
“There are more to just the 21 months that what the committee we set up is investigating. It will determine the number of months; and we have to determine who are those and the number of persons that the government owes,” he said.
Minister Wilson furthered: “Once the committee completes its work than the Ministry of Youth and Sports will engage the Ministry of Finance and say Honorable Minister, since we suspended this program and we are restructuring it; this is how much we owe our workers. How do we settle it as leaders – our decisions on payment of arrears will be based on facts and documents”.
Influx of workers
At the same time, Minister Wilson has alarmed over the inclusion of over 1,300 workers on the program by the two suspended coordinators without his consent.
He disclosed that these workers were included based on political and other reasons by the suspended Coordinators.
He said the government will not succumb to pay arrears to anyone who was not properly incorporated into the program.
“The suspended coordinators came to my office in 2018 and said they were under pressure coming from lawmakers and other community leaders, giving them names to put on the project. I instructed them not to take any name from anybody without my approval, and anybody put you under pressure, come to my office and tell me”.
Minister Wilson added: “Contrary to what I told them, they went ahead and did what they did.”
He, however, expressed hope that the committee setup to investigate the complaints and ensure the restructuring of the program will submit its findings and recommendations within a three-week period.
No Political Decisions
Minister Wilson has been consistently accused of taking political decisions regarding the project to please some of his executive committee members of the CDC serving within the 54th Legislature. But the Minister has termed the allegation as false and misleading.
“I don’t run my office on a partisan level. The President of this country, my boss, said on so many occasions that he will work with any opposition person that is willing to help his government. I take my cue from the President. I do nothing here on partisan level,” he said.
He, however, urged the aggrieved workers not to stage any peaceful assembly in the country because the move is intended to satisfy the “personal motives” of some of their suspended leaders.