Rosh Pinah dispute far from over

KEETMANSHOOP – The Metal and Allied Namibian Workers Union (Manwu) has threatened to declare a dispute with the Roads Authority (RA) after the two parties last week failed to resolve a number of workplace issues.

The latest in a series of meetings took place on Thursday in Windhoek where Works, Transport and Communication Minister, Dr Moses Amweelo, tried to mediate. A major bone of contention is accommodation for workers.The meeting recommended that the general condition of housing at Rosh Pinah should be addressed with the assistance of the major stakeholders.Amweelo also instructed the RA to investigate available building material that was reportedly bought from the Skorpion Zinc Mine.Minutes of the meeting made available to Nampa stated that another demand of the union, that workers working on the construction of the MR118 section of the Aus-Rosh Pinah road be given living-away allowances and other benefits because they are not residents of the mining town, should be scrutinised from a legal point of view.Manwu claims that the workers should be given accommodation even if they were recruited at Rosh Pinah because they had flocked to the mining town from other parts of the country in search of employment.The union is of the opinion that Rosh Pinah does not have permanent residents, as it is a privately-owned mining town.The RA, however, is adamant that since the workers were recruited at Rosh Pinah they should be regarded as local residents.At present only 63 workers employed by the contractors, HR Joint Venture, have accommodation.Seventy-four are without accommodation, according to the RA.”The additional cost of providing the demanded accommodation for the road construction project could have repercussions with the funding agency (the African Development Bank),” the RA stated.- NampaA major bone of contention is accommodation for workers.The meeting recommended that the general condition of housing at Rosh Pinah should be addressed with the assistance of the major stakeholders.Amweelo also instructed the RA to investigate available building material that was reportedly bought from the Skorpion Zinc Mine.Minutes of the meeting made available to Nampa stated that another demand of the union, that workers working on the construction of the MR118 section of the Aus-Rosh Pinah road be given living-away allowances and other benefits because they are not residents of the mining town, should be scrutinised from a legal point of view.Manwu claims that the workers should be given accommodation even if they were recruited at Rosh Pinah because they had flocked to the mining town from other parts of the country in search of employment.The union is of the opinion that Rosh Pinah does not have permanent residents, as it is a privately-owned mining town.The RA, however, is adamant that since the workers were recruited at Rosh Pinah they should be regarded as local residents.At present only 63 workers employed by the contractors, HR Joint Venture, have accommodation.Seventy-four are without accommodation, according to the RA.”The additional cost of providing the demanded accommodation for the road construction project could have repercussions with the funding agency (the African Development Bank),” the RA stated.- Nampa