Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Ms. Emma Adwoa Appiaa Osei-Duah has acknowledged that the company owes sweepers approximately a year’s worth of unpaid monthly allowances.
She attributed their inability to pay the workers to government indebtedness.
Speaking on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, she explained that their contract with the government is based on a prefinancing agreement, but delays by authorities have hindered their ability to remunerate the sweepers.
According to her, the contract clearly stipulates payment amounts for workers and Zoomlion’s management fee.
She stated that the sweepers have a contractual agreement with the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), with Zoomlion serving as the supervisory company.
Ms. Emma Adwoa Appiaa Osei-Duah was responding to allegations circulating on social media, accusing Zoomlion of exploiting its workers under the sanitation model and failing to adhere to the contract’s terms.
In her explanation, she revealed that YEA has explicitly stated in its contract with the sweepers how much they were to be paid, and therefore, Zoomlion cannot be accused of exploiting the workers.
She noted that government payments are divided into three categories: logistics, management service fees, and payments to the sweepers.
“The contractual recruitment agreement categorically states that YEA is solely responsible for recruiting workers, and Zoomlion supervises the workers to ensure they are working. We don’t employ them directly. The contract specifies the amount to be paid to workers and Zoomlion’s management fee. In the agreement between YEA and the workers, it is clearly stated that the workers are to receive GHS250 every month. GHS150 and over is allocated for management service fees, and the rest goes into logistics.”
She expressed hope that the government will settle its debt, enabling Zoomlion to pay the arrears owed to the sweepers.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
