Sierra Leonean workers called "Bush Pigs" by Expatriates

By PV Staff.

Some foreign companies operating in Sierra Leone are allegedly treating their Sierra Leonean workers in a very abusive and inhumane way including poor working conditions, insults and blatant abuse, according to a report from a credible organization called Care2. There have been cases of expatriates referring to Africans as "Black Pigs" and "Black Monkeys", according to the Care2 report.

In addition to bad working conditions the companies concerned also displace entire villages without adequate compensations including clean running water, electricity, etc.

The report by Care2 named companies like Koidu Holdings in Kono district, Addax in Bombali district and African Minerals in Tonkolili district. All these companies are accused of treating villagers and workers in a very abusive manner, something they have always denied despite many reports from local and international non-governmental organizations stating otherwise.

It should be noted that the companies involved enjoy the full support of the government in Freetown including senior police officers who have been known to order their their men to fire live bullets at unarmed protesters in Kono and Tonkolili districts resulting in fatalities.

Other companies in the Pujehun district treat workers and villagers in the same way. The Spectator, a Freetown newspaper recently published a story in which local authorities in Malen chiefdom, Pujehun district allegedly "banned" Green Scenery, a prominent environmental organization from holding meetings and interacting with workers and villagers in the chiefdom. Green Scenery recently recently released a damning report on the activities of some companies in the district. This may have triggered the so-called ban.

Not all foreign companies treat their workers in this horrific way, however. Two major foreign companies in the country, Sierra Rutile and London Mining, have an excellent relationship with their workers and have offered a lot of assistance to the communities in which they work.

Here is the Care2 report on the recent abuses: http://www.care2.com/causes/horrific-racist-mining-abuses-continue-in-sierra-leone.html#ixzz2yAZnf26m

Photo: Alluvial diamond miners.

Photo Credit: Care2.