300 workers owed by bankrupt company

• FLORIAN DECKERSFORMER employees of Namibia Road Products and Services (NRP) claim that they have not received their salaries for July, August and September of last year yet, despite the fact that the company has recently sold most of its equipment.

The roads construction company which was managed by Johann Essmann, Wimpie van Zyl and Ferdinand Nghiyolwa, went bankrupt in November 2015.

Whether the bankruptcy was brought about by mismanagement or due to outstanding payments, could not be determined.

According to a former NRP foreman, who does not want to be named, most of the company’s equipment, including trucks, loaders and other heavy machinery, have been sold in an auction on 31 August 2016. This auction was part of the liquidation process that is managed by Alwyn van Straten and his company Executrust.

Nonetheless, about 50% of the 600 employees are still waiting to get paid their overdue salaries, said the source.

Several workers told The Namibian on Friday that they try to reach the liquidator on a daily basis, asking about their salaries, but that they keep getting put off. They also explained that this is the only option they have as they cannot afford a lawyer to sue the company for their outstanding salaries.

Van Straten said the process of liquidation, with over 400 creditors involved, is still ongoing. “We are going to pay them as soon as possible,” the liquidator told The Namibian yesterday.

He explained that the process is continuing, despite the fact that the biggest part of the company’s assets have been auctioned off because of legal requirements, documentation and the need for approval from the High Court. Van Straten also said that N$ 3,2 million of the outstanding claims have already been paid.

Meriam Petrus, a former employee of NRP, is one of the workers who are struggling to get money from the liquidator.

“I am still waiting for my money,” Petrus said. “We are not hungry, we are starving for our money,” she added. She is now studying, and said she needs the money to pay her fees.

Early in 2015, NRP had abandoned a road construction project between Okatana and Onunho because it claimed that the Roads Authority had failed to pay them N$65 million of the N$187 million agreed in the contract, reported.

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