By Michael Odiah
There is a growing tension among workers employed by Chinese Construction firm, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), over the rising cases of deadly body injuries inflicted on them in the course of working on the Jesus Saves/DLA drainage project along Nnebisi road, Asaba.
Investigations revealed that, since the commencement of the drainage project 2 months ago, both commercial transporters in the State capital and the construction workers have had their fair shares of fatal accidents leading to amputations and even death.
Latest of these worrisome incident is the lose of the left leg of Mr. Okon Bassey, a CCECC worker who got involved in this tragic events on Saturday, February 24, 2018 when a section of the drainage at the Federal Medical Center main gate collapsed on him.
Speaking to TRACKNG, a co-worker to the injured who pleaded anonymity and a witness to the sad event narrated that, Mr. Bassey was with them when they went to dismantle the boards of the manhole at the FMC main gate when the top soil which was soft due to the heavy down pour the previous last night, collapsed on on him and by the time they got to his rescue, Bassey had lost his left lower leg completely, which might result to amputation from the knee region.
He added that Mr. Bassey who just joined the team few weeks ago, was skeptical about coming to work that very day.
Another worker who also pleaded anonymity said that, two days ago, one of their carpenters who doubles as a brother to him lost his foot to an excavator, just after the excavator was used to lift him up and a generator plant from the depths of the drainage and he is now undergoing treatments as sponsored by the company.
Speaking further, he lamented that the payments they receive is also not co-measurable to the labour they put in, as they have to work round the clock all week, stressing that some of them were paid N13,400 for a month while some lucky ones got as much as N25,000 a month which was still too poor for the nature of their job and its possible hazards.
He stressed that they had made an appeal to the management of the company for an upward review of their salaries or they will stop work, but the company insisted that they should continue work in wait of an upward review of their salaries sooner than later.
Efforts made to reach the Doctors tending to the CCECC injured worker to ascertain his current state proved futile due to the well known bottlenecks associated with the Federal Medical Center, Asaba.
Further efforts to speak with the Chinese Supervisor on ground to get the company’s view on the growing numbers of work hazards and the alleged poor payments, hit a brick wall as he found difficulties in conversing fluently in English language.
