IPNEWS: Contrary to claims by some former members of the Beaches and Waterways projects that the government of Liberia owed eight million United States dollars for work performed, the authoritative Independent Probe Newspaper can confirm that the rift between the government of Liberia and workers of the Beaches and Waterways was caused by a ‘double-dipping’ scheme designed by the leadership of the Beaches and Waterways project.
According to a memorandum of Understanding in the possession of IPNEWS, the government of Liberia and members of the former beach and waterways cleaner agreed to the hiring of two thousand workers and not five thousand as previously reported.
An amendment clause within count eight of the MOU signed March 16, 2021, by Hon. D. Zeogar Wilson, Hon. Samuel D. Tweah, Jr., Ministers of Youth and Sports and Finance and Development Planning, alongside George A. Young Jr., Project Chairperson, and Edwin G.V. Hanneh, Region II Coordinator, states that ‘any amendment to this agreement shall be done through written consent and both parties shall be present at the time of the said agreement, no party shall arrange the content or any clause in this agreement without the consent of the party and said consent shall be done through signature approval.’
Furthermore, the ‘blinding effect’ clause states: ‘this memorandum of understanding shall be effective on execution hereof, and the terms and conditions of same shall be binding upon the parties hereto and extend to their assigns, successors and legal representatives as if they were specifically named herein’, all of which were grossly violated by the Project leadership.
The agreement further detailed that the project was executed within eighteen months contrary to earlier claims by the former beach and waterways workers that they worked for twenty-one months.
A transcript in the possession of IPNEWS further revealed that leaders of the Beaches and Waterways leadership recruited an additional three thousand unauthorized workers outside the stipulated number of 2,000 workers agreed upon by the memorandum of Understanding bringing the total number of workers in dispute to five thousand.
A leaked transcript signed by the project leadership seen by IPNEWS reveals how the Project Leadership bagged for the inclusion of all regardless of the violation of the MOU, to include the six months arrears payment of all authorized workers and not eighteen months as per the MOU to accommodate 3000 unauthorized workers brought on the project by the Project leadership to absorb the total two million United States dollars disbursed by the government of Liberia.
Furthermore, count one of the MOU states: “Recognizing and acknowledging the economic situation in the country, the employer asked the service provider (project leadership) to play their part in maintaining the peace by acceptance; Two million United States dollars (2,000,000.00USD) as considerable amount to settle all arrears for the Beaches and Waterways Project workers as agreed upon and categorized these workers as authorized and unauthorized.”
Count three narrates: “Whereas, both parties agreed within this understanding that the unauthorized workers were pleaded for by the Service Providers (Project Leadership), that after the conclusion of all arrears settlement, they should NOT retain or continue the same claim that the government owes them arrears for they have waved their wages.”
Last week, about 5000 former aggrieved Beaches and Waterways project workers threatened to cause chaos within the CDC-led government of President George M. Weah come October 10, if he fails to pay back their waived 11-month arrears.
According to them, President Weah has to choose between two options: either pay back their arrears or retain them on the coastal sanitation project.
Presenting their plights to President Weah’s office representative over the weekend in New Kru Town, the workers recounted that their local leadership and the Liberian government, through Youth and Sports Minister D. Zeogar Wilson, signed a memorandum of understanding a few years ago.
The workers claimed that the government at the time owed them 21 months’ arrears but settled for 10 months’ arrears and waived the remaining 11 months through the MoU based on the economic constraints faced by the government.
According to them, the national government agreed through the document signed between the two parties to retain them on the new project while they (the workers) waived their 11-month contract in support of the Coalition for Democratic Change government.
The aggrieved workers explained that Minister Zeogar Wilson refused to follow the agreement in the MoU signed that they should waive their 11 months due to the challenges faced by the government so all of them can be retained on the Coastal Sanitation Project, for which US$2.5 million was allotted in the Fiscal Year 2023 national budget by the Liberian government.
The over 5000 workers vowed to surprise President George Weah in the ensuing October 10, 2023, presidential and legislative elections with a vote that he will never want to believe from the people of New Kru Town.
According to them, the Liberian leader has heard their cries for their job, or if they cannot be given back the job, the government must pay their waived 11 months’ arrears, but he remained tightlipped on the matter.
The former workers of the BWWP noted that since their own son (President Weah) would choose to treat them with neglect, in revenge, they are prepared to express their feelings to him through the ballot box in October this year.
They promised, with anger expressed on their faces, to unapologetically and intentionally torment the Liberian leader, who is also the political leader of the governing Coalition for Democratic Change, if he continues to give their plights deaf ears. Watch out for part V.
