—-But Demand for Salary Increment Continues
IPNEWS: Workers of the Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI), the Workers Union has returned to work, following months of continuous go-slow actions.
According to its Union’s President Augustine Johnson, a committee was constituted with a mandate of addressing various salary disparities and unsafe working environments at the entity.
The committee is being constituted by Finance and Development Planning Minister, Mr. Samuel D. Tweh.
The Central Agricultural Research Institute was among several institutions where its workers’ salaries were “harmonized” by the CDC government.
Currently, field workers are receiving a very little salary that could not sustain them up to the following month, Mr. Augustine Johnson told IPNEWS Correspondent in Gbarnga , Bong County.
Chronicles
CARI has since been mired by several controversial issues including reported missing generator, unaccounted fifty (50) thousand United States dollars being withdrawn by Enson Joe Amara, reported slashing of workers’ salary, maltreatment of workers, among several others.
It may be recalled, two years ago, CARI’s management under the direct supervision of Madam Paulette Findley, reported to the police in Bong County that its comptroller, Enson Joe Amara, stole a little over US$50,000 from the institution and absconded.
At the moment, Amara’s whereabouts are still unknown; however, there are rumors that he fled the country via a Royal Air Maroc flight on March 6, 2020, at 3:30 a.m.
Following an intense probe and review of summoned financial statements from several project accounts CARI has with the United Bank of Africa, police found that Mr. Milton Flomo and Amara made several withdrawals from three of the institution’s accounts from January 14, 2020, to March 2, 2020.
Suspect Flomo who was charged with criminal conspiracy further admitted to Police that he made a withdrawal and gave the money to Amara.
Madam Findley tendered in her resignation to President Weah as Officer in Charge of CARI on August 10, 2020; citing “the time had come for her to move on having completed the task assigned to her to set up a framework for a more sustainable development at the institute”.
Fast forward, these issues have all witnessed several promises to be addressed by past and current Director Generals and Officers In-Charge (OICs), but things are yet to materialize.
In the mix of these endless dissatisfactions and challenges, Mr. Augustine Johnson is however promising a new page as a result of meeting top government officials including Finance Minister Samuel Tweh and others to address the prolonged conflict that has stalled development and research works.
It is not however clear if they will revert to past actions if things don’t go as portray.
Current status
Our Bong County reporter who visited the entity on Tuesday saw field workers and researchers busy with their respective duties in cheers.
The field workers declined an interview with this paper as they were focused executing their daily mandate.
Meanwhile, CARI’s Management headed by Dr. Victor Sumo is yet to grant an interview with this paper.
The Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI) located at Suakoko, Bong County some 180 km north‐west of Monrovia was created in 1980 from the Central Agricultural Experiment Station (CARES) to conduct both adaptive and applied research in agriculture.
In the 1980‘s the Institute had seven commodity-based programmes (rice, cassava, cattle, swine, cocoa, coffee, and vegetables) and planning had been initiated for a cropping systems programme.
CARI’s mission is to undertake applied and adaptive research for enhanced productivity of food, feed, fiber, and other agricultural products in Liberia for the attainment of food security, poverty alleviation, income generation and job creation. By: J. Peter S. Dennis
