Ekom de yen! -workers cry out

Last Thursday at Akwatia in the Eastern Region, economic activities in the diamond rich town virtually came to a halt when all the 806 workers of the Ghana Consolidated Diamond (GCDCL) Limited, as well as the Chiefs and people of Akwatia thronged to the streets donned in black and red attires to express their displeasure at government’s neglect of the Ghana Consolidated Diamond (GCDCL) Limited which has resulted in the company’s virtual collapse.

The chiefs and the people, therefore, appealed to President John Agyekum Kufuor and his NPP government to act quickly to revive the dying state-owned GCDCL, which is the bread basket of the entire community and beyond.

At a press conference organised under the auspices of the Akwatia Christian/Muslim communities, Akwatiaman Traditional Council and the GCDCL workers after the demonstration, they cried out to the President, saying GCDCL was on the verge of collapse.

As a result, workers of the company have not been paid for the past seven months - from January to July - this year, the protesters noted.

Because of this, they added, the people of Akwatia and its environs were reeling under abject poverty, with serious rippling effects on the socio-cultural and economic lives of the communities around Akwatia.

Some of the placards carried by the demonstrators read; “ekom de yen; Mr. President do something before you go; our education is falling; we are fed up Director- we need our money etc”

They revealed that because the company’s machinery and equipment are now dilapidated, with most of them broken down, no meaningful production have taken place resulting in the non-payment of the workers’ salaries for almost eight months.

The people maintained that many families of the workers are breaking apart, with wives unable to withstand the heat of the prevailing abject poverty leaving their husbands while many wards of the workers have been sacked from school over their parents’ inability to settle their school fees.

They further argued that even some of the students who were children of the workers were not allowed to sit for their final examinations.

“Parents are unable to provide one square meal a day to their families. Workers go to work on empty stomach. … Some live on cooked cassava spiced with salt and hot pepper without fish. Some workers are selling their hard earned personal belongings cheaply to feed their families”, they claimed.

“Pensions and death benefits are outstanding for more than one year,” they further noted. They, therefore, suggested possible solutions to amicably solve the current heap of problems on the company.

Among the suggestions, the workers asked the government to seriously consider injecting working capital into the company to enhance its effective and efficient operations.

They also asked government to expedite action on possible divestiture of the company to a “reliable investor of good standing” to ensure that workers of the company receive their outstanding salary arrears from January to July this year.

They cautioned that the collapse of Ghana Consolidated Diamond Limited during President Kufuor’s tenure will have an “indelible black spot in his outstanding, efficient and effective administration” as well as spell doom for Akwatia and its environs.