By Mohamed T. Massaquoi
The Swiss agribusiness company Socfin has reacted to charges of child labour in its concessional area.
The company denied that it is employing children, in response to allegations forwarded earlier by the Probation Officer of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children Affairs in the southern district headquarter town of Pujehun.
The SWGCA official, Francis Alieu Finor, told Politico, as published in our recent edition, that child labour was on the increase in the region especially in the Malen Chiefdom, where Socfin operates.
Abu Amara, Human Resource Manager attached to Socfin, described as “unfortunate” the allegations. He said Finor had never bothered to inquire about their recruitment process.
“Our recruitment process is entirely based on certain documents approved by the ministry of Labour in Sierra Leone, [which are] equally in agreement with the International Labour Organization (LIO) standards,” the Socfin spokesman said.
He said in October, 2008, the Sierra Leone government, ILO, and the European Commission reached an agreement that entails that job opportunities should be created for fifteen-year olds on normal working basis, and eighteen-year olds and above for potentially hazardous jobs. He also cited the 1960 Act regarding employer/employee relations and said Socfin has never worked in contravention of any of these laws.
“And we have been employing people based on the nature of the work they do and our code of conduct or terms of condition of services also clearly mentioned that we should not employ anybody who is a child,” he stated. He added that their primary source of employment had been within communities that they operated in. He said they demand either voters or national identification cards from potential employees to verify their age, even if sometimes when there is no voter ID card they consult local authorities “because we believe they are trustworthy.”
Amara listed a number of supports he said Socfin was providing the people in its concessional area, including support for children’s education, building of schools, and other supports in the form of teachers` stipend, among others.
He said their doors were always open to every citizen who wanted to seek information from the company, so that they avoid presenting the “wrong picture.”
© Politico 21/05/15
