PHOTO: Scene from the protest on the streets of Gbarnga Tuesday
By J. Peter S. Dennis, dennisrealone@gmail.com
GBARNGA, Liberia- The repeatedly postponed national population and housing census in Liberia has run into one trouble or another, with pre-census activities turning chaotic by the day, as LISGIS Enumerators protests over pay and conditions from Monrovia to the hinterland.
The latest protest has taken place in the central Bong County, where enumerator on Tuesday, November 1, 2022 staged a big protest demanding their earlier sitting fees before writing competency test.
They also want a clearer understanding of their just benefits before “taking risks into the bushes”.
Many of the gathered protesters carried placards with numerous inscription: “we want our money” “we don’t want work” “we are tired of undergoing suffering”.
Some read “No money, no test” “LISGIS must be serious” “Include our names”.
“You can’t train someone for ten days and bring another batch of people to do the same work you trained the others for, LISGIS should be an organized and responsible entity!”
Since you have brought your own workers, the people you trained signed up for ten days’ training allowance, give them their money,” one of the enumerators said.
“We can’t be treated like slave in our own country. The Bong county LISGIS office is the next place,” they remarked.
According to them, the treatment by LISGIS is grave, wondering the successes of the country’s ‘digital census’.
They feel, if there’s no earlier payment, the 1st November 2022 competency test is not possible if their plats aren’t timely addressed.
During the training, they told our reporter that they were promised $50 USD as feeding because LISGIS didn’t provide feeding as expected.
Since the conduct of the five (5) days of training, there has been no transfer of the money.
The enumerators have since maintained that they are still indebted based on LISGIS’ reported refusal to transfer the funds.
Recently, the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Service (LISGIS) maintained that “payment will be done after a post test”.
Fast forward, the enumerators gathered at the Gbarnga administrative building and headed to the bridge that links the capital of this central Liberian County.
Whilst there, the road was blocked for nearly an hour, leaving others stranded in traffic.
Fire was lit on the bridge, thus angering the police to disburse them with both tear gas and what is believed to be “live bullets”.
The police have not yet issued a formal statement.
Our reporter was missed on two occasions while covering the protest.
The protest trigger county officials and others to leave work earlier over fear of being harm; although they [demonstrators] didn’t carry weapons.
The 2022 digital census has been mired by several controversies thus triggering the postponement to November 22, 2022.
House Speaker Dr. Bhofal Chambers earlier announced.
The census was scheduled for October 24 to November 7, 2022.
Meanwhile, some of the facilitators have also called on LISGIS to pay them, vowing not to administer test if they’re not paid.
According to them, there is no test until full payment.
“Since we underwent the training, LISGIS has not paid us. We are still having hotel keys due to our indebtedness. We were lodged at their facilities with the hope of getting money for settlement. We were promised our sitting fees, but we can’t get it” many of them maintained.
“We have trained the enumerators, and we’ve received anything yet. As we speak, we have no idea when we will get the money,” they said.
No official of LISGIS here has responded.