Four employees of a Chinese construction company claim they were fired after refusing to clean up a huge pile of stinking, rotting refuse that included broken plastic bags filled with human faeces. The workers, who claim they were ordered to clean up the mess without gloves and masks, were allegedly dismissed by Qingdao Construction Company yesterday - an accusation management later denied. Qingdao is the same company that was embroiled in a controversy last year in which an employee was allegedly run over by a manager driving a company bakkie. Also last year, two female employees were dismissed after allegedly complaining about sexual harassment. The company is presently building houses at Elisenheim outside Windhoek. According to the fired workers, the Chinese live on the site and have put up structures as makeshift housing. There are no municipal bins and rubbish is discarded not far from the sleeping quarters. The workers said the fly-infested wet pile of dirt consists of, among other things, rotting food and human waste in broken plastic bags. The four employees said they were called from the construction site to clean up the dirt and put in it refuse bags, before loading it on a truck. They said the refused to clean up the mess, after they went through the debris and saw the human waste. “There are about 50 Chinese here and they only have one toilet. So when they want to relieve themselves, and the toilet is occupied, they relieve themselves in the plastic bags,” said one of the fired workers. “We also refused to clean up the dirt, because they didn’t give us gloves and masks.” During a visit by Namibian Sun to the site yesterday, the workers also pointed out a hole used as sewerage pond, which contained dirty water tinged with green. Workers said they were not being given proper protective gear while working on the construction site. “A builder wore casual shoes and did not have a protective hat or mask. We wore our own clothes here,” said one worker. They added that the manager intimidates workers who are members of the Namibia Building Workers Union (NBWU). NBWU branch organiser Naemi Ndinelago Shitangwa said when they arrived at the construction site they found the four workers at the company office waiting to be paid out. Shitangwa then told the company not to dismiss the workers. “The situation is not good. You can’t even stand near the pile of dirt they were asked to clean, because it smells and it’s a health risk,” she said. Shitangwa said some of the employees, like the one who pushes the wheelbarrow on site, are paid N$4 an hour, which is less than they are supposed to receive. “We spoke to Mr Ho (the manager) and told them to stop using Namibian workers the way they want to, and that they should adhere to the labour laws. We also told them that cleanliness is also needed,” she added. Louis Lyu from Qingdao claimed he gave the four workers gloves and masks, but that they threw them away before the union arrived. Lyu claimed further that he had not dismissed the workers and had only told them to rest if they did not want to work. WINDHOEK SELMA IKELA
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