(Business in Cameroon) - According to reliable sources, the 1,500 workers at the Lom Pangar construction site in Cameroon’s East region have taken industrial action again on November 6, 2014 for an indefinite period. They are allegedly striking to demand that the commitments made by their employer during previous strikes be kept.
These commitments include, for example, their registration for social welfare benefits with the Caisse nationale de prévoyance sociale (CNPS), and the payment of certain bonuses - issues already raised with the CWE in the past. At a strike movement on June 25, 2012 at the Lom pangar site, CNPS benefits were one of the major demands made by the workers.
The State’s energy company, Electricity Development Corporation (EDC), is accusing the Chinese construction company of “dithering” and “double dealing” in being slow to honour its commitment to improve the working conditions of the workers while it regularly receives advances and contractual amendments. This was reported by the African Press Agency (APA), according to an inside source.
These recurring tensions at Lom Pangar, causing stormy walk-offs the job, are likely to affect the timeline for completing the project which is slated to be partially launched between June and September 2015.
The Lom Pangar Dam will have a water retention capacity of 6 billion m3. At the foot of the dam, a 30 MW plant will be built, co-financed by the World Bank (66 billion FCFA), the European Investment Bank (19.7 billion FCFA), the African Development Bank (33 billion FCFA), the Central African States Development Bank (20 billion FCFA) and the French Development Agency (39.3 billion FCFA).