 GPTC Workers not Paid For 4 Months?Author: Publisher | Date: 06-07-11 | Topic: National News |
| By Lamin Sanyang Reports reaching this paper claimed that employees of the Gambia Public Transport Corporation (GPTC) has not been paid their salaries for the past three to four (4) months. According to sources, there is no Managing Director to give explanation. More than one hundred employees are reported to be currently working with the Corporation and these include the ones at the Head Office in Kanifing, the sub-stations in Brikama, Jarra-Soma, Farafenni, Basse as well as those attached to Gambia International Airline (GIA) at the Banjul International Airport. This reporter visited the Transport Corporation’s Head Office in Kanifing to find out why salaries have not been paid for the past four months. Some of the workers who spoke to this reporter have confirmed the claim and are complaining about the dire economic conditions they are confronted with as heads of households. They said the situation is very disheartening to be working without salary for four months when most of them have families to feed and school fees to pay for their children. Ebrima, one of the affected employees, said they did not have salary for the months of March, April, May and June respectively and that no reason was given to them as to why they are not paid. He said he has been working with the GPTC for the past 23 years. He disclosed that there are only three buses that are now being operated by the GPTC. “The only buses we have now are the three that are operating at the airport. I have a big family with two wives and I’m renting a house with all my kids. I have about eleven (11) children and eight of them are going to school,” said Ebrima. He said he is only managing with his family through the support of relatives and close friends. Another employee said he is living with his wife and kids in a big family compound. He complained about the difficult situation his family is facing as a result of his lack of salary at the end of the month. He said he goes to work every working day but never gets paid at the end of the month. “At the moment, things are very hard for me. I find it difficult to provide the basic necessities for my family. Just imagine, my wife was sick and I could not buy medicine for her. It seems as if I am working for nothing. Let them put themselves into my position and see what they would do,” he suggested. The Senior Manager at GPTC, Mr. Kebba Demba, was contacted to throw light on the matter. He declined to make comments. “I am not authorized to give information. I have signed a bond of secrecy and I am answerable to the Permanent Secretary,” said Mr. Demba. He referred this reporter to the office of the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure. When contacted, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Abdoulie Camara, agreed to talk to the reporter but invited the Deputy Permanent Secretary and a senior staff of the Ministry to witness the interview. When the questions were put to him he said: “At the moment we cannot entertain questions. The issue of GPTC is ongoing. As soon as that is done there will be an announcement,” said Permanent Secretary Camara. Readers could recall that the issue regarding the non performance and non payment of staff salaries of GPTC being in the spot light, at the National Assembly. It is noted that the country cannot achieve development without an efficient and reliable national transport service. Presently, the GPTC Kanifing headquarters and depot is now transformed into a graveyard of derelict buses. This depot, which used to be teeming with people and busy during the heydays of GPTC, is now a desolate place. The place is in a state of abandonment with the paint on buildings peeling off and furniture in offices old and in a state of disrepair. The GPTC depot, to the observer, looks like a ‘ghost place’. The authorities need to urgently address the plight of the employees of this national road transport service. |
"True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.