Editorial: The violence at SRC could have been avoided

There is an adage that says, “Prevention is better than cure.” We believe if the Management of Salala Rubber Corporation in Weala, Margibi County, had been proactive in curbing industrial action on its plantation by aggrieved tappers, the damages it incurred on Thursday, June 27th, 2024, which led to the burning down of offices, vehicles, residences, and looting, could have been avoided.

For nearly a week, aggrieved tappers had staged a go-slow, presenting a 13-count demand, including habitable housing units, improved working environment, pay, and transportation. These conditions that the workers outlined have existed at the plantation for the past three years without any remedy from management.

Patience ran out, and aggrieved tappers went amok, firstly laying down tools for five days and eventually resorting to arson and looting of rice kept in the company’s warehouse. We are talking about conditions of the least people at the tail of the hierarchy of the company, but who do the strenuous labor work of waking up at 5:00 am daily to tap 1,700 rubber trees and collect latex from those rubber trees by 12:00 or 2:00 pm, each day.

They are the least but crucial component for the company’s existence and operation. Without tappers to tap the rubber trees, there would be no need for management to operate the company. Unfortunately, management pays very little attention, if any, to this segment of its workforce.

Senior staff such as accountants, human resource personnel, administrators, and others sit in offices and plan, but execution lies in the hands of men in the field. However, it is difficult to understand why tappers don’t receive quick attention whenever they call for intervention or seek redress to their plight.

Lest we be misconstrued, the management of the NEW DAWN does not support vandalism carried out by aggrieved tappers on the company’s premises. We condemn the action in no uncertain terms, but we strongly believe it could have been avoided if management had promptly moved to find a remedy to avert what has happened.

Historically, the Salala Rubber Corporation is not the first concession in Liberia to suffer such fate. Our memory is still fresh about the fatal protest early this year at Bea Mountain Company in Grand Cape Mount, when aggrieved citizens protesting missteps by the company clashed with state Police, and several persons died.

The protest followed unaddressed grievances from citizens to the mining company, which seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. Therefore, they believe the last approach to seeking attention was a violent protest like the tappers at SRC did.

The situation becomes painful when administrators present an ironclad posture against genuine concerns raised by people they consider least (workers or residents) in their activities but rely on them to succeed. If the management of SRC had responded timely enough, the violence and losses it sustained could been avoided.

It is about time that concessionaire managers across the country become proactive in dealing with small situations in the operational areas before they get offhand and turn to uncontrollable violence that no one ever imagines, for it is said that “A stitch in time saves nine.”