IPNEWS- Grand Cape Mount County-Sime Darby Plantation one of three oil palm concession entered into by the government of Liberia for 63-year to develop 220,000 hectares of land in Grand Cape Mount, Bomi, Gbarpolu and Bong into oil palm and rubber plantations, now at a break of an Labour unarrest due to what the company termed as rationalizing its workforce by redundancy .
The company has confirmed to Ministry of Labour officials that’s its decision to downsized its workforce is due to various economic challenges and to ensure the continuity of its business in Liberia.
“We would like to confirm that we are currently rationalising our workforce and undergoing a redundancy exercise due to various economic challenges and to ensure the continuity of its business in Liberia. The exercise is currently being implemented in stages in full consultation with the affected workers, the workers union and the Ministry of Labour”. A communication to the Ministry of Labour read.
In the wake of this mounting situation the company informed this paper that it is in talks with the Ministry of Labour, community representatives and the affected employees.
The Communication further read: “Every effort has been made to ensure that the process follows the laws and regulations of Liberia and this includes the Liberia Decent Work Act 2015 and Collective Bargaining Agreement”.
It can be recalled Sime Darby Plantation reported in its second qualter-2017, that the company has faced several constraints that has prevented the it from growing as planned. It reported that the main factors undermining its company expansion was the issue of land acquisition and the Ebola outbreak.
The Company said regardless of these issues, Sime Darby will continued to employ workers greatly beyond its requirement for current operations but warned that the company will only move forward, if its workforce is rationalize.
“Regardless of the ongoing rationalization of our workforce, we have constructed a new state of the art mill in Bomi County to accelerate the creation of new jobs and opportunities for additional workforce”.
Sources at the Company informed IPNews that operations of the Company is in Liberia for a very long time as indicated in its concession and will work within the confines of best business practices to ensure its sustainable presence in the country. To-date, it has planted over 10,000 hectares of oil palm and more than 100 hectares of rubber. It provides the highest-paid jobs in the agricultural sector to around 2,800 Liberians. As part of its commitment to improving living conditions of the surrounding communities, SDPL has been providing free access to education, health services, water and sanitation and other community services to over 30,000 local residents
