\t\t\t\t\t\tIn 2010, Maersk’s port company APM Terminals was awarded a 25-year contract for the sole responsibility of port operations in Liberia’s capital Monrovia. The port is one of West Africa’s largest and one of the country’s most important forms of infrastructure. MONROVIA – When it was built in 1960, the Ducor Hotel in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, was the most luxurious hotel in Africa. Five stars, eight floors, 106 rooms, a pool, tennis courts, a bar, a French restaurant and, of course, the right kind of guests.<\/p>\n It is said that Uganda’s long-serving president Idi Amin once swam in the pool while holding a gun in his hand. Today, almost twenty years after the end of Liberia’s second civil war, the hotel remains as a looted ruin.<\/p>\n Only the phenomenal view from the hotel is left preserved.<\/p>\n From the top floor of the hotel the view sweeps for miles.<\/p>\n To the west, lies the rolling expanse of the Atlantic. To the east, you can see The Executive Mansion, the office of President George Weah, and the milk-white buildings of the United Nations. To the north, are the canyons of West Point, one of Monrovia’s densely packed slums, and further out to the horizon is The Freeport of Monrovia, the capital’s major port, where three large container ships are docked on a humid afternoon in late May.<\/p>\n Down at the port, Ballah Kpadeh works. A short man in his mid-40s with large sunglasses glued on his face.<\/p>\n He is employed as a truck driver for Maersk’s port company APM Terminals, which in 2010 was awarded a lucrative 25-year contract to operate the Freeport of Monrovia.<\/p>\n Danwatch and Ekstra Bladet met with Ballah Kpadeh and a number of his current and former colleagues in Monrovia, while investigating how Maersk runs port operations in one of the world’s poorest countries.<\/p>\n We have documents proving systematic wage issues and dismissals that are in violation of Liberia’s labour laws.<\/p>\n In addition, seven current and seven former Maersk employees have chosen to come forward with their stories, about substantial cement dust contamination, futile health insurance and the harassment of employees involved with the union.<\/p>\n \t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDanwatch and Ekstra Bladet travelled to Monrovia to investigate how Maersk runs port operations in one of the world’s poorest countries.
\nWe have talked to a large number of current and former employees, and fourteen of them have now come forward to speak up about the condemning work conditions.
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAs Maersk delivers one record financial report after another, employees tell of lung and eye disease, a futile health insurance that prevents them from getting adequate help, and the systematic harassment of union members.
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDanwatch and Ekstra Bladet have obtained documents showing that in several cases APM Terminals have been convicted of illegalities in the Liberian National Labour Court.
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe trade union 3F, who serve Danish dock workers, occupational medicine experts, and local politicians criticise Maersk for not ensuring sound working conditions.
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMaersk did not wish to be interviewed by Danwatch and Ekstra Bladet, but acknowledges that there is a “discrepancy” with APM Terminals in Liberia. However, they denied several of the more specific criticisms.
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tN\u00e6ste<\/p>\n