Ramu Nickel faces strike

By KEVIN PAMBA
LOCAL workers and landowners at the Basamuk site of the Ramu Nickel project are poised to stage a strike today over poor working conditions and inadequate landowner benefits.
Many local employees of resource developer China Metallurgical Construction Corp and its sub-contractor ENFI had returned to Madang town on several boat loads yesterday.
The workers said on arrival in Madang town that the local people were not happy with a lot of the things at the Basamuk project site and were staging a strike.
They said their employers had asked them to take an indefinite leave because of the strike and for them to take part in the elections.
The workers, who were mainly drivers, operators and cooks from other parts of Madang and other provinces said they were not advised as to when they would return to Basamuk.
They said company officials and police went to Basamuk yesterday to discuss the grievances of the local people today.
One ENFI employee told The National they received hourly rates of K2 and K2.60 for working 12 hours starting 7am.
He said the company mess for Papua New Guineans provided them with plain rice, tinned food and local pork but without vegetables.
He said the Chinese employees had a different mess with their own cooks.
The ENFI worker claimed that many of the national workers had lost weight and became ill because they do a lot of manual work but were getting improper meals.
The employee also said workplace safety was a concern for them.

Type In Your Name:

Type In Your E-mail:

Your Friend's E-mail:

Your Comments:

Receive copy: