By Bill W. Cooper
Over 3,000 workers of the beaches and water-ways project have threatened to torment President George Weah if he fails to pay their 11 months arrears.
The workers said President Weah has to choose between two options and it either to pay back their arrears or retain them on the Coastal Sanitation Project.
Presenting their plights to President Weah’s office over the weekend in New Kru Town, the workers recounted that their local leadership and the Liberian government through Youth and Sports Minister, D. Zeogar Wilson signed a memorandum of understanding a few years ago.
They said the government at the time, owed them 21 months’ arrears but that they settled for 10 months to be paid while waiving 11 months through the MoU based on the economic constraints faced by the government.
According to them, the government agreed through the document signed between the two parties to retain them on the new project therefore the workers’ bargain to waive their 11 months was cemented in support of the Coalition for Democratic Change government.
The aggrieved workers explained that Minister Wilson refused to follow the MoU by retaining them on the Coastal Sanitation Project to which US$2.5 million was allotted in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget.
The over 3,000 workers vowed to surprise President Weah in the ensuing October 10, 2023 presidential and legislative elections with a vote that he will never want to believe from the people of New Kru Town.
According to them, the Liberian leader has been hearing their cries for their job or appeal to the government to pay their waived 11 months’ arrears but he remains tightlipped on the matter.
The former workers of the BWWP noted that since their own son, President Weah, choose to treat them with neglect, in revenge, they are prepared to speak their feelings to him through the ballot box in October.
They promised with anger expressed on their faces to unapologetically and intentionally torment the Liberian leader who is also the political leader of the governing Coalition for Democratic Change if he continues to give their plights deaf ears.
The workers, many of whom are single parents with huge economic burdens daily, told the media that since the closure of the old project, they had willingly volunteered their services by cleaning the beaches for about five months only to prove their loyalty to the government.
They maintained that until President Weah can amicably resolve their longstanding issues, they are resolved to massively campaign against his re-election bid for the Liberian presidency.
Meanwhile, receiving the documents from the aggrieved workers on behalf of the President, a prominent son of Kru Town, Henry Collins disclosed that their messages have not reached the Liberian by those they had engaged, stressing that President Weah is a leader who is always willing to hear the voices of his people and resolve their issues.
He also assured the workers that their plights will be delivered to the Liberian leader but he cannot determine the next decision to be taken by the President.
Mr. Collins then encouraged the citizens to remain respectful and peaceful in their quest, adding that the President has always identified dialogue as the best way to solve problems.
