By Hassan Y. Koroma
Workers at the Horse Fishing Company Limited, at Jui in the eastern part of Freetown, are currently crying for justice and equal space for their company to be able to compete with other companies in the country.
They are calling on the government to do the needful as they could not continue with such a situation, especially now that things are extremely difficult in the country.
They say the company’s Management is committed to make the company more viable to boost the fishing sector and improve their conditions of service, adding that if the company folds up now; it will be difficult for them to find another place of work as unemployment is rising everyday in the country.
During a media briefing at the company’s Jui complex the Human Resource Manager, Sundu Konomani, disclosed that some of the challenges the company was currently battling with ranged from litigation, deprivations, interference by the former Minister of Fisheries, Hon. Emma Kowa, among others.
Mr Konomani explained that they acquired the land in 2003 via a Lease Agreement with the Government of Sierra Leone but due to challenges highlighted above, the company could not operate effectively. He added that no business could thrive under such circumstances wherein court matter was hanging over its head by state actors.
According to him, initially, the court asked them to relinquish part of the land to SABCO which they did for the sake of peace though it was not part of the Lease Agreement.
He stated that after that, another litigation against their company came up in the Supreme Court which made the matter worse. He said whilst they were trying to come to terms with that, they received a Letter of Offer that was completely different from the Supreme Court’s interpretation.
Mr Konomani also cited the role played by the former Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Hon. Ema Kowa, who allegedly refused to register their vessels which was now rendering them (workers) useless despite their survival was hanging on the company’s operations.
The Human Resource Manager concluded that the Horse Fishing Company Limited was among the few companies in the country which had never scaled down their operations or reduce their workforce due the Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks.
In his remarks the Managing Director of the Horse Fishing Company Limited, Hossam Magdy Elkhwaga, described Sierra Leone as his second homeland, saying that he was committed to invest more in the country if only the opportunity was given to them.
He informed journalists that they had invested a lot of money in the business and that they were ready to do more but were constrained by the legal challenges with the Ministries of Fisheries and Lands which, he noted, were undermining their progress.
Mr Elkhwaga called on the Government of Sierra Leone to give them the right to operate as stated clearly in the Lease Agreement they had with the government.
He disclosed their plan to construct a five storey multi-purpose building to show their commitment to the government and people of Sierra Leone.