25 workers involved in construction work at Mpulungu boarding school situated in Mankonga area were on Friday dismissed by their Chinese project manager grounding the construction to a halt.
Chibulula Ward Councilor Brenda Chola confirmed that construction work at the school was stopped on Friday after the Chinese contractor on site dismissed 25 casual workers after the workers are said to have reported him to the District Commissioner.
Chola said the casual workers were dismissed after the Chinese foreman named as Liu Yuefa, who is the project manager on site under Huajiang Investment Ltd, accused the workers of fabricating lies against him to senior government officials in the district.
Chola said Liu Yuefa was infuriated after he received a letter from the District Commissioner’s office requesting him to respect and operate within the labor laws of the country.
She said the letter angered Mr. Yuefa who retaliated by sending the workers back home when they reported for work on Friday and Saturday morning, telling them to go and get jobs from the District Commissioner’s office.
Ms. Chola further said the wrangle between Mr. Liu Yuefa and the workers started a long time ago, resulting in the later being shown the exit door.
She appealed to the Director of Huajiang Investment Ltd to replace Liu Yuefa with a new foreman to supervise the construction work at the boarding school.
Chola said she had of late been receiving many complaints from the workers at the site which is situated in her Ward.
She said the workers have been complaining about lack of protective clothing at work, mistreatment, subjection to abnormal working hours and low pay.
She said her efforts to reason with Mr. Liu Yuefa to compromise with the workers had not yielded any positive results.
Ms. Chola said her main interest as area Councilor for the Ward where the school is being built is to see to it that the construction work is completed in time and that the workers’ demands are met.
Mr. Liu Yuefa could not be reached for a comment by press time.
ENDS/EK/PK/ZANIS
This can only happen in zambia for man man to have two post at one project,do mean we dont have zambian who can not manage this projects,(Chinese foreman named as Liu Yuefa, who is the project manager on site under Huajiang Investment Ltd) here we come.
Goodmorning bloggers. Why isn’t anybody commenting? Are you scared of ctiticising the choleric behavior of this project manager?
These so called chinese fimofimo have gone way too far!! They are now behaving like they are the owners of this country! well i dont blame them i blame the goverment for being too lenient on them. Nababatumpika!
Before i comment,pardon my ignorance bloggers, but i have tried to google the meaning of the words Chinese manger and relaliates.Someone educate me,kuti wa commenta wrongly
LT, it’s ‘Manager’ and not manger. Otherwise, you are doing a great job.
If only our govt had put its people first, the story was going to be different, the labour laws in zambia i feel like they dont work, how come the law favours foreingners instead of locals. This country will always be considered a play ground, becuase the so called investors make money and after that they leave, without the govt gaining anything out of it. I hope this will change for our children to come. Govt put your people first, protect them against foreigners please. NOT happy anyway, yaba!!!!
Aba abantu bakatwipaila abantu besu.Why is it that government seems to dealing with the Chinese with kid gloves kanshi?
This country belongs to the Zambians, who by the way only have one country anyway.Why should they be treated like second class Zambians in their own country, and by foreigners? We cant allow Zambians to become enslaved by the Chinese no way.
Zoe, Retaliates is like Revenging. Ukubwekeshamo. Wamvela manje? Now there can be two sides to this story bane. Just as much as i dont like the Chinese, work culture yama Zambians also leaves much to be desired. Yes, the chinese should respect labour laws, but abena Zed can be very lazy sometimes. Ama Chinese are hard working, and to try and frustrate the chinaman, they resorted to reporting him to the DCs office. Katwishi, but thats my opinion mwe. Mulemona shani?
Ba Moze ba LT has edited their topic otherwise it read” Chinese Manger relaliates” thts why chenze chanipita.Biased LT (MMD)
Zoe, i didnt realise. Iwe you dont know that LT taishiba icisungu? I never get suprised at his english. The only two words he can never ever misspell are ‘Rupiah Banda’!
I think our govt is to blame, most of the foreighn people that are in our country have more powers than us. A chineese man can actually harrass you with no one to say a word. Since now its like their home, they can say anything and do anything. Worst still they can even hold their heads up that they are able to SELL THE COPPER IN AMERICA on high prices which they dont even produce. Where is it from,,,,,,, you know where.
I thought we do not have casuals pa Zedian labour law anymore? The ward councilor should shed more light on what transpired with Mr. Liu Yuefa , i will contribute later. **==
Gentlemen,
We have no “Labour Ministry”, If we had a labour ministry that cares for the people of Zambia, Most Foreign employers were going to be booted out, with the coming in of contract emplyment. most Unions Where they exist have been shut up. why ? because if you stand out your contract will not be renewed .
A quick check in most private companies will reveal to you that there are no Unions, and the Labour ministry workers are still drawing a monthly salary. Shame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You can not bring China to Zambia but you can get China out of Zambia. Word!!!!!!!!!!!
Ba Moze, you raise a pertinent point about a lagging work culture in Zambia. The problem with the labour laws IMO is their selective application…. I can’t even describe how many times local businesses are taken to the labour tribunal for firing someone who stole from his workplace, or was lazy, and yet a company has to pay that person his benefits, which is against the law. Yet, other companies seem to get away without paying their workers at all. The labour laws are also apt to abuse, especially by the courts.
This foolish foreman better be put on the first chinese airline flight that leaves zed and goes all the way to China. He is breaking all the laws of zambia and no one is doing anything about it. I would not be surprised if he is from their jail house in China. The Chinese govt has a tendency of sending their jail birds to work in zed. That is why we have had a lot of problems with them while they were working on Tazara rail line and in western province. They think they are kings in zed. Our govt better show them that zed belongs to zedians.
What do you Zambians expect if you have to hire a foreign firm to build a classroom? It means you deserve what you get. How long are we going to continue being spectators in our country’s businesses? Was this another Dora type of procurement to award this company such a contract or is it not Zambian money used to build?
China is slowly and SURELY taking over Zambia……..watch them 2010….u will clearly remember my words
Zambians are just lazy
This is sad. We are not lazy. We need to stop chinese infiltration in our mother land and its people. Its a shame that we are losing our strategic assets to the chinese.
When will we ever learn?
Those Mpulungu chaps deserves what they are getting. Is this construction of a classroom a donation from the chinese company or not? If not ,then why contract a chinese company in abundance of Zambian construction companies?
Last year was my first time to Zambia.What I experienced was only very friendly and polite people,please dont lose that!! I agree on when one is living in Zambia that they have adjust themselves to what is normal behaviour and custody for the country they visit.Even when you’re living there you still are a visitor not actualy born there,try to make a contribution instead of only making some benefit.But most of all treat people with respect.Being lazy like i read in some comments is that really so bad? or would it be better to act the same way like they live in europe and make of Zambia a ratrace to?Dont lose your way of life and become like those who only know how it is living in a industrial land,not actual living but being a instrument of an economy,This manager doesnt know better.A…
These Chinese chaps need to be reminded whos country it is!!!
The first problem we have in Africa is, we think a Chinese or an Indian is a white and they get this feeling of being superio. It’s high time people in Africa realised that this is not the case. In Europe Indians and Chinese feel very inferio, because they are treated just like black people. Indians are even happy to be friends with Africans. The propblem with the Chinese is that they are quite racist.
Second, there is no system in Zambia. Why should a Chinese fire 25 workers at once without giving them (1) a period of notice and I’m sure (2) any benefits. It’s the Gvmt to blame. The Gvmt should put up strong measures to protect the workers, especially if they are dealing with Chinese. Those chaps are wickedly crafty.
25 continued
I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that the ka new manager is the same one who has been fired, only with a different name. This is how Chinese are taking the piss out of us. It is the same with companies. One company steals from the country and leaves. Next, the same company, with a different names, arrives in Zambia. The Gvmt gets excited thinking we have another investor. What a shame! If the Gvmt was interested in developing the country, they would not tolerate such nonsense for so long. The Gvmt should at least see that at the end of the day, it’s the Chinese that are profiting, not Zambian.