Dead bodies at the entrance of the hospital
By Jenneh Braima and Mohamed Vandi in Kenema
The Ebola burial team at the Kenema hospital yesterday started an indefinite strike over “non-payment of allowances for October and November” leading to the abandonment of 15 dead bodies.
Two dead bodies were left at the entrance of the hospital, one in front of the office of the hospital secretary which was later taken to the back of the facility.
12 of the bodies had already been readied for burial.
The striking workers said the hospital management had done nothing to ensure payment was made for October and November.
The strike prevented people from accessing the hospital throughout the day.
The second in command of the team, Hassan Soko said their plight had been communicated to all stakeholders including the resident minister, “but no encouraging action has been taken.”
He said they had staged similar strikes last week but the authorities intervened and promised they would ensure payment by Friday which came and passed off without payment.
“We are sacrificing our lives for this nation, so what is due us should be paid on time. Our children are suffering,” Soko said, adding that they were very desperate to ensure their allowances were paid before anybody could enter the hospital.
One of the technicians, Musa Kanneh, said they were also part of the strike. He said they would abandon the 12 dead bodies already prepared for burial until they were paid their backlog.
Meanwhile, coordinator for the National Ebola Response Centre (NERC) in the eastern region, Abdul Wahab Wan, described the action of the team as “unfortunate and heart-rending.” He said their action was genuine but said exposing three dead bodies to the public was not good for the country.
“The concerns of our brothers and sisters are legitimate. We are in sympathy with them and their allowances should be paid,” he said, adding that workers in the primary healthcare system had been paid their weekly allowances for October while those in the secondary had not been paid due to problem with documentation.
He said that on 14 November the team arrived from Freetown to pay allowances for November but that those in the burial team did not fall in those categories.
“This heightened the problem. I want to assure them that they will have a meeting with the resident minister and other stakeholders so that urgent action can be taken.”
Assistant Inspector General of Police East, Alfred Karrow Kamara said he had deployed his officers at the scene and that there was no security threat.
© Politico 25/11/14
