Speaking to African Young Voices, the Deputy Managing Director of Human Power Global, Macivan Pratt further intimated that, his company was established in Sierra Leone in 2005 with a legal status, distinctive and enviable track record for providing profitable and well secured employments for thousands of Sierra Leoneans in Iraq and other countries without creating any embarrassment or exposing them and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and to public ridicule and misconception.
According to him, his company learnt that, President Ernest Bai Koroma through the Ministry of Labor Social Security and Employment imposed a ban on the recruitments of house maids by revoking licenses of companies recruiting workers for foreign jobs coupled with the outbreak of the dreadful Ebola Virus Disease in the country.
He further disclosed that, the ban imposed by President Ernest Bai Koroma was as a result of the unregistered and mushroom emergence of companies with no definite, convincing and comprehensive documents trading and claiming to be recruiting house maids for employment in the middle east, thus creating serious problems and embarrassment to government and at the same time exposing the precious lives of Sierra Leonean compatriots to all forms of inhuman treatment and cruelty by their foreign employers with impunity.
The Human Power Global, he said mainly recruits’ male workers for jobs like carpenters, building contractors, supervisors, mason, wielders including various field in building and other construction activities in Dubai, Abu Dabi and Qatar.
He added that, his company has no job recruitments for the Arab Republic of Kuwait and female, but rather for mainly male workers, unlike mushroom and other fly- by -night overseas job recruitments companies that are engaged in recruiting Sierra Leoneans for foreign jobs in countries that have no iota of respect for human rights standards in line with international best practice.
In 2009 and 2010, he explained his company recruited over one thousand Sierra Leoneans for job employments in Iraq of which ninety five percent of them were male staff and were never subjected to any form of molestation, intimidation or harassment throughout their tenure of service, coupled with the provision of traveling facility of the Ministry of Labor ,Social Security officials to various employments destinations for a first information on the welfare and security of Sierra Leoneans employees there.
He maintained that, in 2013 and 2014 his company was again contracted to recruit Sierra Leoneans workers for Dubai, Qatar and Abu Dabi and no female worker was recruited, noting that prior to the Ebola outbreak in the country, they had already secured over two hundred visas, but that the whole programme was put on hold as a result of the non availability of air flights to convey staff to various destinations.
Macivan Pratt explained further that , his company has exercise patience for the past two years and they are presently under serious pressure from their foreign counterparts to recruit over four thousand workers for Abu Dabi, Qatar and Dubai, but that the ban imposed, by revoking his company’s license makes no sense, considering the fact that, government formulated a monitoring system to ensure that the correct principles and procedure and strictly adhered to by all overseas job recruitment agencies in the country.
“Human Power Global Power has a time limit for the workers to be flown out as most Sierra Leoneans youths who were former employees of the then African Minerals and London Mines Companies are unemployed and idle are in a desperate need of such a great opportunity, adding that the continued imposition of ban on overseas job recruitments is not a solution but rather a great lose to thousands of jobless Sierra Leonean youths,”Macivan Pratt stated.
He quoted President Ernest Bai Koroma to having said that, his government is strongly committed to the empowerment to youths by creating a special Ministry to look into various issues, policies and programmes hinging on youths development, and that over four thousand jobs presently await Sierra Leonean in Abu Dabi, Dubai Qatar and which they should not be deprived off.
Concluding, Macivan Pratt urged the media, the Sierra Leone Bar Association and the civil society organizations and other civil right organizations in the country to prevail on President Ernest Bai Koroma, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security including other relevant state authorities to lift the ban on overseas recruitments with immediate effect and allow thousands of jobless Sierra Leoneans to gain employments in Abu Dabi, Dubai and Qatar and at the same time reduce the high level of employment rates among youths in the country.
