Transport workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo have ended a three-week strike which crippled the country’s largest port, saying their main grievance has been addressed, a union source said on Tuesday.
Strikers had sought the sacking of the National Transport Office’s (Onatra) management committee, which they accuse of ”financial embezzlement”.
Transport Minister Heva Muakasa suspended the committee but one of the country’s four Vice-Presidents, Azarias Ruberwa, has supported it ahead of the results of a government inquiry.
”We have lifted the strike order and activities have resumed this evening, we have obtained satisfaction on our main claim which was the establishment of a new management committee,” said Etienne Ntadila, head of Action, the main union at Onatra.
On Monday Transport Minister Heva Muakasa said he had received instructions from the head of state to proceed with the replacement of the committee ”and to put the Onatra employees back to work immediately”.
The halt in activity at the Matadi port, 360km from Kinshasa, has led to enormous losses for Onatra, ”in the order of $500 000 (€398 000) a day”, according to the union.
Most of the revenues of Onatra — the only public operator of rail and sea transport in the DRC — come from the Matadi, the only maritime port in the country, built in 1886 by Belgian colonisers at the mouth of the Congo river.
Port activity has slowed in recent years because of a lack of quay maintenance and an economic recession in the vast central African country that was at war between 1996-2003.
About 20 ships were waiting to unload their cargoes in DRC ports, costing the shipping companies between $10 000 and $20 000 a day.
The Federation of Congo businesses (FEC) had called on the government to resolve the workers’ conflict with Onatra and avoid an economic crisis ahead of July 30 elections — the first democratic polls in nearly four decades.
”We are going to work 24 hours a day and set up special customs procedures to quickly free up the port,” said transport ministry spokesperson Luc Mabiada. – Sapa