The widow who collapsed during the press conference
Former workers of the Ghana Port and Harbour Authority (GPHA), whose severance packages have not been paid, say they cannot make ends meet and are dying out of frustration.
According to the about 6,000 former workers, they are dying as paupers as a result of government’s refusal to provide their severance packages to them after they were laid off in 2002.
At a press conference at Ashaiman yesterday, the ex-workers of GPHA disclosed that about 90 percent of mentally retarded people found on the streets of Ashaiman were former workers of the Authority, whose cognitive ability have been severely affected, with some of them engaging in criminal activities.
Sadly, an old widow who also was at the press conference suddenly collapsed and had to be revived by some people before being rushed to the nearest health facility for medical attention.
Lord E. Laryea, spokesperson of the GPHA Retired Workers Association, who addressed the press conference, said life has become very tough for them culminating in the many health issues they were battling with and therefore appealed to President John Mahama to help them access their severance benefits.
“All efforts to get the Authority to honour its obligation have yielded no results, hence our appeal to the President, who has demonstrated in words and deeds his compassion for the afflicted, the dispossessed and the vulnerable to intervene for us and come to our aid since our plight has worsened,” he pleaded.
“As we speak now, the untold hardship is getting worse and we need government to pay us our due.”
He indicated that over 600 of the workers had so far died while others are walloping in poverty.
The spokesperson further disclosed that they would storm the office of the World Bank and headquarters of GPHA if their demands were not met within a week.
On his part, Stephen Ashitey-Adjei, leader of the retrenched workers, told DAILY GUIDE that the late President John Evans Atta Mills had directed the Ministry of Transport, in a letter with reference number OP307VOL.20/121121, to pay the workers but since his demise nothing has been done about it.
“This is a sad and confusing affair because most of the ex-workers had hope in the late President but his sudden demise killed our aspiration.”
He said five out of the about 6,000 people, who managed to secure legal representation, had been paid all their benefits, adding that “Justice is very expensive and only a leader like President Mahama, who knows how pitiful and vulnerable a dispossessed person can be can offer help because we are like a dying brigade. ”
He asked the ex-workers not to give up their fight for justice through legal means, which seems to have eluded them since 2002, appealing to President John Mahama to address the grievances of the ex-workers of GPHA with dispatch as he does with the affairs of ministers, Members of Parliament (MPs) and other Article 71 office holders.
From Vincent Kubi, Ashaiman