CSIR threatens strike over its Amasaman land
The National Council of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has warned that both workers and the council will be forced to lay down their tools if displaced residents of Sodom and Gomorrah are settled on the institute’s land.
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According to the Chairman of the council, Mr Abe Incoom, the reason the council had not taken any decision concerning the encroachment on CSIR lands was that “we are still engaging the government and relevant stakeholders to see how best we can address this issue amicably”.
He gave the warning when workers from the 13 research institutes under the CSIR yesterday presented a petition to the council concerning the encroachment on the council’s lands.
The petition also contained some concerns about the payment of terminal benefits of workers of the CSIR.
Numbering about 200, the workers, wearing red armbands, besieged the headquarters of the CSIR around 10 a.m. and demanded to talk to the council, which was then in a middle of a meeting.
After receiving the petition, Mr Incoom gave an assurance that the council would do everything within its power to resist any attempt to encroach on CSIR lands.
Background
Workers of the CSIR last Friday hit the streets of Amasaman in the Greater Accra Region to protest against what they described as “an attempt by the Ga West Municipal Assembly to give the institute’s land to the displaced residents of Sodom and Gomorrah”.
According to them, any attempt by the government to settle displaced residents of Sodom and Gomorrah on the council’s land would automatically affect its research work.
Earlier, the AMA and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), as part of measures to address flooding in Accra, had demolished more than 100 illegal structures along the banks of the Odaw River and the Korle Lagoon.
The exercise, which was to allow for the expansion of the natural borders of the Korle Lagoon and pave the way for water to flow, rendered the slum dwellers homeless.
Subsequently, the government allocated a portion of land at Amasaman to the displaced slum dwellers.
But the CSIR, which owns the land, is kicking against the move.
Aspect of the petition
The National Chairman of the CSIR Local Union, Mr John Baffoe, said apart from the Amasaman land, there was massive encroachment on the council’s land at the Kotoka International Airport and Frafraha.
He said workers of the CSIR were unhappy about the issue and blamed the National Council and the management of the CSIR for allowing the issue to persist.
“We wish to indicate to the council that much as we depend on its approval of matters regarding the running of the CSIR, we would not hesitate to take drastic measures to ensure that encroachers on CSIR lands are turned away,” Mr Baffoe said.
