PHOTO: Kids being made labour this much just to get their ’26 celebration going
By Emmanuel S. Koffa, emmanuelkoffa506@gmail.com
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As some kids were having it relatively easy in Monrovia and some parts of Liberia during this year’s July 26 Independence Anniversary season, there were other under 18 who toil to eke out a living and get something for the celebrations in Barclayville.
One group of kids, who suffered a form of child labour, were seen in the southeastern Grand Kru County doing labour-intensive works ahead of last Tuesday’s festivities.
According to the UN International Labour Oraganization (ILO), “The term “child labour” is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It refers to work that:
- is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and/or
- interferes with their schooling by: depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.”
Back in early July this year, Liberia’s Labour Minister, Cllr. Charles Gibson submitted a draft of the “Child Labour law and the amended Decent Work of 2015” to the Legislature for amendment and enactment.
The Labour Ministry says the Bill, which was recently validated by the stakeholders, is geared towards protecting children from forced Labour and is in compliance with the International Labour Organization (ILO), Convention #138 and laws.
On the morning of Monday, July 25, 2022, a day to the celebration of the country’s 175th Independence Day, several minors were seen toting on their heads heavy cement bricks up to the top of a three-story building said to be owned by a Liberian businessman.
According to them, they are paid by number of cement bricks (blocks) a day but were not quick to announced amount they earn at the end of the day.
But when contacted, the owner of the building, Alfred Sakar Boe denied that children were working at his project site. But he put the blame on the head contractors in the charge of the project in question, strongly condemning the act and warning against such practice.
The three story building under construction is said to be owned by top Liberia businessman.
Recently, Grand Kru Labor Commissioner D. Sarmadra Juah frowned at parents using their children to be bread winners, something he described as risking and damaging the lives of the future.
When quizzed by Reporters, the Grand Kru Labor Commissioner in the County on Tuesday July 26, 2022, confirmed the increase of child labor activities in the area, mainly in Barclayville, which is the capital.
According to him, child labor is one of the socio-economic challenges that continue to impart the wellbeing of children across Liberia, noting that despite efforts to tackle the situation, a number of Liberian children are still victims.
Mr. Juah observed that the worst forms of child labor and other hazardous work done by children deprive them of their dignity, rights to education, health, wellbeing and protection.
He stressed that child labor manifests itself in various forms and in different sectors, including domestic service, commercial agriculture, fishing, mining, rock cruising, street vending and prostitution.
The Grand Kru County Labor Commissioner added that Children in the county are subjected to worst forms of child labor, including forced domestic work, sometimes as a result of human trafficking.