They pointed out that they are not seen what teltac is doing in the country but yet teltac is collecting huge sum of money on the country’s International Gateway.

The Lebanese company is manding the country’s only international gateway as a consulting firm that is managing the international gateway which many people does not understand their operations let alone their corporate social responsibility to the nation.

Oneness a local base organization Secretary General Foday Faya told this press that they are wounding about the safety of the country’s information system. “Our organization as we stated Oneness we want is to flow in every area in life, if  Sierratel is charge with the responsibility to control the gateway they should have done it with all seriousness but we know that they are not capable for such responsibility.”

He reflect to on  huge sum of money mobile operators are paying to them just for the international gateway but  create no impact on the lives of Sierra Leoneans and even for Sierratel to beef its telephone and internet facility.

He alleged that teltac together with Sierratel are lobbing round government not to liberalize the gateway because they are benefiting from it. “The monopoly of the gateway was due to the non insistence of a national regulator but now we can boast of the National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM) who is more vibrant to crack down any security risk information. What not give them the mantle of leadership to monitor such than foreigners who is just here to do business and when any thing occurs they will be the first to live,” he asked.

Some said the name of Teltac has not being mention in any social gathering not to talk about their Corporate Social Responsibility to the nation during their years stay in the country.

“We have records of all private company and their activity in the country; Teltac doesn’t adhere to its corporate social responsibility. I can challenge any body to come with their evidence that shows that this is what Teltac has done to this or that community or group,”

An Information Officer, Osman Conteh said they had some information that cabinet to grant Teltac a renewal of its international gateway contract with Sierratel and to extend Sierratel’s international gateway Exclusivity Period (EP). He  added that such approach if it is true demonstrates at best ignorance of the laws that govern the nation’s telecommunications sector or at worst.

“The outright disregard for the provisions within the Telecommunications Act of 2006 and Amended in 2009 that direct the independent regulatory body, the National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM) to oversee the international gateway renewal process for the EP and grant approval for no more than three additional years is at threat. The Telecommunications Act, 2006, provides for the Chairperson of NATCOM upon extensive review to grant an extension to the exclusive use of the gateway,’’ he said.

Currently subscribes are experiencing serious chock when ever thay want to make or receive call outside the country.

“We want to get quality and cheaper communication to enjoy the value of our money,’’ they shouted.

Chief Commercial Officer for Comium Liberia and Sierra Leone Joe Amara Bangali Jr

Mr. Bangali made this remarks while responding to questions from SALONE TIMES over the weekend at the Company’s  Headquarter in Freetown. “We are always here to give the best and we are giving the best that is why we are the best network in the country”

He said no other company can stand their tariffs plant and the value added services in the country. Comium he went on is offering free calls to 39 destinations in the country which he said is one of their biggest offers to their subscribers. “Not only that we have the biggest number of subscribers in Bo and Kenema”

He pointed out that they have covered 80% of populated area in the country. He said beside their unbeatable 9 units tariffs in all the cities in the country including Freetown subscribers can get access to the super tariff which is 5 units per minute.

In relation to his news appointment to over see Comium Liberia, Mr. Balgali said he has a Commercial Director in Liberia, “All I am doing is planning and making policy, I can visit to see what we have put in place enacted, ” he said.

He went on to say he will also ensure discipline in the company from all sectors. He said it does not only mean that he should station in that country but to over see and implement policies. “I am ok with the added responsibility.”

NPA General Manager

The latest move take by the NPA clearly indicts such people as the company was able to recover over One Hundred and Fifteen Million Leones in one operation.

The arrest came at a time the company is putting mechanism in place to source funds  for the sustenance of the plants at Kingtom when Bumbuna would have shut down on May 10 this year.

Public Relations Officer of NPA Victor Wilson Clarke said they noticed that people have not changed their attitudes despite their effort to provide sustainable electricity in the city. “They are still in the habit of stealing energy. We are able to recover such due to the raid we made together with the Police in some areas we notice there are of such habit,”

Mr. Clarke said, NPA is spending Le 2 billion weekly to upkeep the Kingtom machine and Le 1 billion weekly to Bumbuna despite their output to NPA. Currently they are supplying 7 mega watts in Freetown which is far from its original 18 mega watts.

Mr. Clark said they are going to continue to change to prepaid meters in the remaining areas under NPA purview.

He also disclosed that NPA will conduct an excise to cut down sticks that are very closed to the cables to avoid any damage on them during the rains.

This according to record is the second time in one year Bumbuna is shutting down. It was first shut down in February. The May 10th shut down will cost  NPA Le 7 billion to help sustain the Kingtom plant until Bumbuna comes on again.

This was confirmed to SALONE TIMES  by the Public Relations Officer of NPA  Victor Wilson Clarke. He said the  shut down of Bumbuna in May  will pave the  way for them to do maintenance and also wait for the  water level to increase. “We  depleted our funds in February with the hope that Bumbuna will not shut down again this year.”

In February , Mr. Clark said, the NPA spent Le5 billion to  upkeep the Kingtom machine. He pointed out that Bumbuna is currently supplying 7 mega watts in Freetown which is  far from its original 18 mega watts. This he said is due to the drop in the water level.

Reacting to the current trend of blackout in the city, Mr. Clark said their machines are in good order but there is shortage of Marine Fuel Oil (MFO) in the country. “The MFO is bought by National Petroleum (np) which have  promised to come with supply by next week. We have not got enough fuel to run the engine.  Meanwhile only one or two machines are running,” he said. When the abnormality is over, Freetown will once again enjoy almost 24 hours electricity supply to their homes and offices.  Most government offices this Press visited yesterday including State House reported that they have been in total blackout for the past two days. It was learnt that government owes NPA billions of Leones for non payment of utility bills.

Speaking during the launch of the 2010 State of Human Rights report in Zambia dubbed ‘Human Rights and the Environment’ in Lusaka yesterday, Prof Luo said she was frightened with what was happening to the people of Kankoyo.

“There is need for the ZEMA Zambia Environment Management Agency to look at many activities to do with the environment with a bright eye. In the past, where we were not strict, today those communities are facing serious environmental problems. Emissions from Mopani are causing a lot problems to the community in Kankoyo,” she said.

“I am frightened with what is happening to the people of Kankoyo. We need to protect these people and Mopani should compensate these families because of the sufferings they are going through.”

MCM has acknowledged the historical pollution problems it inherited after privatisation and is keen to solve them through investment in gas capturing equipment. . Before privatisation, sulphur dioxide had been released into the atmosphere unchecked since the 1930s when the Mufulira mine was first constructed.
At present, over half of all sulphur dioxide emissions are captured and turned into sulphuric acid at the first acid plant, which was opened in 2006.
It is anticipated that on completion of the final phase of the project, around 97 percent of all sulphur dioxide emissions at Mufulira mine will be captured, a development the mine management describes as a world-class environmental performance.
MCM Chief Executive Officer Danny Callow is proud of the development: “We look forward to the day soon when sulphur dioxide emissions will be a thing of the past at Mufulira. I am pleased that we are now able to tell our neighbours that this day will be sooner than they expected.”
Mr Callow added; “We inherited the decades-old problem of sulphur dioxide emissions and have invested heavily to tackle it. Mufulira is one of only few smelters in the whole country, and as well as our own ore, it processes ore from other mines on a tolling basis.
We see our investment to clean up Mufulira as making much of Zambia’s copper industry more environmentally sustainable.”
MCM expects to complete its work to capture sulphur dioxide emissions at its Mufulira smelter by the end of next year, 18 months ahead of the Zambian government’s target of 2015 and the target in the environmental management planthe company established shortly after privatisation.
But until this feat is achieved, life will remain miserable for the 20,000 residents of this environmentally degraded and impoverished township whose history is tied to the building of the mine in 1932.

The President of the NLC, Comrade Abdul Wahed Omar, who was speaking at the Quadrennial National Delegate Conference of the National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) in Abeokuta, capital of Ogun State said that labour would be up in arms if the federal government should go ahead to increase the pump price of petroleum again under the pretense of deregulation as being conveyed in some advertisings going on now.
“Labour will call out Nigerians, should there be any form of deregulation now because that would be contradicting the understanding we have with the government. Besides there are clear indications that Nigerians are ready to take up government on deregulation based on the current revelation from the subsidy probe”, he said.
On whether Nigerians could still trust labour to provide the required leadership based on how the January fuel protest was handled by labour, the Congress president said that Nigerians and workers in particular still trust labour in the issue of fighting for the masses.
”We don’t have problem on that, when the government goes ahead with the deregulation and mobilise for mass action to protest against it then we will see whether Nigerians will come out or not, until then, but right now all labour is saying is that there is no basis for further deregulation”, he stated.
The NLC President noted that the reports of the probe committee on the subsidy has further substantiated labour’s position that government was actually not subsiding any pump price as those in governance want the people to believe but decided to deregulate in order to get more money to spend.
He lamented that the increase in the pump price of petroleum in January has further worsen the conditions of workers and other low income group earners in the country.
In his words: “The much publicized minimum wage has been rendered insufficient for Nigerian workers with the increase in the pump price as announced by the Federal Government in January. The cost of living precipitated by the increase in the fuel price, has actually eaten deep into the workers wages”.
Comrade Omar however said that Labour would give the National Assembly necessary support to ensure that the probe report was not swept under the carpets and ensure that all those found culpable are brought to book.
He maintained that both the NLC and the general masses are behind the National Assembly in their recent step to nip corruption in the downstream sector of the economy in the bud, stressing that the protest in January has actually achieved a lot by initiating the action for the probe.
“It is evident that there is wide corruption in the downstream sector of the economy, how can one explain over two trillion being expended for something that you budgeted 2.6 billion for, why did it jump to that level, Nigerians deserve answer to all that and we are ready to see to the successful implementation of the probe”, he insisted.
Omar also challenged the Nigeria political class to learn from some labour leaders like the NUFBTE incumbent President, Comrade Lateef Oyelekan who was able to implement lots of capital projects without borrowing from any financial institutions.

Oil installation in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

By Bimbola Oyesola
The Nigeria government might have taken the right step when it instituted the amnesty programme about three years ago, but with the militants returning to their business of blowing off oil installations, opinion leaders believe that the Nigeria President, Goodluck Jonathan may need to do more.

Hence President Jonathan has been charged to review the amnesty programme in order to forestall the resurgence of militia activities in the Niger Delta.

Addressing a press conference on amnesty and the renewed violence in the region, a youth leader, Timi Frank, a youth leader in the Niger Delta noted that there was need for both the National Assembly and the Presidency to probe the activities of the amnesty office in the region as it has failed to live up to expectation.

“If the amnesty is working, why are the youths going back to blow up refineries? We need peace in the region and this is why we are calling on the president to intervene,” he said.

He stated that the amnesty which was initiated to make the ex-militia gainfully engaged in dignified jobs after training has also failed to fulfill the purpose.

According to him, most of the ex-militia who had gone for trainings are yet to get jobs after several months that they have returned to the country.

“We are challenging them to come out with the data base of how many people they have trained and how many are now gainfully employed. If there is no employment, then it is a total failure,” he said.

The youth leader who stressed that his interest was for peace to reign in the region, lamented that some of the agreements entered with the militia at the inception of the amnesty are not being implemented.

“This is a dangerous signal, we in the Niger Delta do not want the experience of the past to recur. That is why we are calling on the president to investigate the amnesty office, why are the oil installations still being blown up despite billions of naira being given to the programme?” he queried.

Frank, who was one of the leaders that initiated the amnesty programme, however appealed to the militants to take the way of peace instead of destruction while maintaining that only empowerment of the youths and sincerity of the leaderships could ensure sustenance of the amnesty programme in the Niger Delta.

Comium Commercial Director Joe Amara Bangali Jr.

One of Sierra Leone’s mobile companies Comium was slammed Le30 million by the High Court of Sierra Leone.

The matter which was under the late Justice Samuel A. Ademusu in the  Civil Division of the High Court of Sierra Leone on Monday 16th April, got a judgment after the death of Justice Ademusu.

The case  involved  Jemima I. M. M’Cormack as  Plaintiff and Comium (SL) Limited  30^d Wilkinson Road, Yata Building in Freetown, as the  Defendant.

The judgment which was delivered on April 10^th, 2012 before the court by the Honourable Judge Justice Katutsi. The late Justice Ademusu explained the background to the case and  went to state that the Plaintiff Jemima I. M. M’Cormack was employed by the Defendant as a Desk Receptionist on the 12^th, May 2006 and confirmed as a permanent staff on 25^th July, 2006.

The judgment went further  to explain that while on official duty, the  Plaintiff fell ill in Bo on 7^th November 2006 and was brought  down to Freetown by the Defendant  and had her admitted at the Cupid Nursing Home  on the 9^th December, 2006 until she was  removed from the hospital by her mother due to poor condition. The Plaintiff according to the judgment did not contact the Defendant, Comium until after 18 months when the Defendant received a letter from a lawyer.

Having considered the totality of the evidence before the court, the late Judge referred to some of the claims made by the Plaintiff as ridiculous, frivolous and without merit.   In that respect, the court dismissed all the above claims for want of evidence with regards the Plaintiffs claim for NASSIT contributions for seven months that she has worked. The late Judge in his judgment agreed that the contribution should be paid by the Defendant according to the evidence and held that contributions made by the Plaintiff are not  claimable and therefore dismissed.

Again the judgment took an examination  of the Plaintiff’s letter of confirmation of her employment dated 25^th July 2006 and  held that the Plaintiff was not served with a notice of termination of her services.

In view of this, the late Judge states that the Defendant (Comium SL Limited) is liable for unlawful termination of the Plaintiff’s employment and further held that the Defendant is liable to pay the salaries of the Plaintiff from 1^st January 2007- 1^st November 2008.

Concluding, the Judgment among other things held that the Plaintiff is entitled to an award on  humanitarian grounds which was assessed at Le30 million and ordered that the said sum be paid to the Plaintiff for  medical treatment.

And the judgment of the late Justice Ademusu ordered that the salary due to the Plaintiff from 1^st January, 2007 to 30^th November, 2008 be paid. Lawyer Ibrahim Kanu representing the Plaintiff while Renner Thomas and Co for the Defendant.

The judgment came at a time subscribers were crying that the company is robbing them. According to some of the subscribers what the company is advertising is contrary to what is happening more especially on the tariff plan.

Comium to Comium was advertised 9 units per minute but the company is deducting 10 units per minute. Off Net peak Comium to other networks 15 units per minute but they are deducting 17 units per minute. Off peak Comium to other network s15 units per minute but they are deducting 19 units per minute. This according to them is a criminal offence which should be taken care of.