By S. Siapha Mulbah
A group of aggrieved citizens under the banner ‘Former Forest Logging Workers of Liberia’, after a day-long gathering at two government entities in demand for arrears owed them by the government, has vowed to shut down the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning on Monday December 11, 2023, if the governing authorities refuse to settle their plight.
The group of aggrieved forest workers on Thursday December 7, 2023, gathered during the early morning hours at the General Auditing Commission to call on the Auditor General to clear the debt which they believed was at the Commission, but were referred to the Ministry of Finance Development Planning, where all financial issues of the country are discussed and settled.
According to them, over 23,450 members of the different forest-related unions, including the National Timber, Wood, Construction and Allied Workers have been allegedly victimized by the Weah-led government for failure to settle a debt of US$7M owed them in salary, arrears, and death benefits.
Speaking to this paper at the ground of the Ministry of Finance, the National Chairperson for the Union of Former Forest and Logging Workers, J. Robert Dogbazee, said the gathering was a peaceful approach to have the government reminded of a promise made to the union on settlement of the debts owed them from the regime of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
“This debt inherited by this government and from former President Sirleaf regime was actually US$24m, but because of some leadership crisis in our union, President Weah’s administration promised to pay US$7M out of the US$24M. Since then, this has not happened,” Dogbazee said.
He added that their protest action was provoked by statements made by the Minister of Finance in September of this year to the former forest workers that their money was going to be paid before elections, which raised their hopes, but subsequently failed them.
According to the group leader, they are going to assemble at the Ministry of Finance again on Monday to further raise their concerns on the matter in order to get the needed response from the entity that is in charge of government’s fiscal policies.
“Today we have spent hours pursuing this matter from the GAC to Finance Ministry, where we are still calling the Minister and his deputies to look in our direction, but up to now there is no change. This is not the end to have us going without benefitting that which belongs to us; therefore, on Monday morning, we all will gather here to make sure that Minister Tweah and his team give us a remedy to this matter. We will ensure that they will pay our money before anyone starts work,” he informed this paper.
Up to press time, this paper was not able to independently verify the assertions made by the aggrieved protestors against the Ministry of Finance, as those concerned to respond to the allegation by the protesters could not be reached.
However, the tightlipped posture of the Ministry of Finance Development Planning has annoyed the protesters, as they pledged to remain in the compound of the ministry until their issues are settled.
