Ex-Staff Attack Vodafone

Some workers suspected to be aggrieved because they have been retrenched by telephony company Vodafone Ghana, staff who are perhaps uncomfortable with their predicament, have turned their wrath on the Ghana Telecom giant satellite station at Kuntunse in the Greater Accra Region. The large portion of land on which the mast is situated, which used to belong to the government until the sale of Ghana Telecom to Vodafone, has been invaded by the ex-staff of the company who have now turned sand winners. The operation which began two weeks ago was halted on the second day when a team of police personnel invaded the premises to stop the sand winners from further destruction. No arrest was made in that exercise. Surprisingly, in less than 10 days after, they are back; this time, with bulldozers, and graders and other earth-moving heavy machines. They are working 24 hours a day at light speed. What remains very curious is that, though the police have been there, they always leave after a chat with the supervisor of the sand winners. This has raised some eyebrows among residents of the area. Not only does the operation of the sand winners affect the safety of satellite station but also the nuisance it creates at night when many of the residents are supposed to be sleeping is said to be just too unbearable. Throughout every night, the sand winners operate with their ear breaking machines, giving the people little chance to catch sleep. When The Heritage newspaper visited the place last Wednesday afternoon, business as usual was going on briskly like nobody was being hurt. Over 50 tipper trucks had been fully loaded and were being dispatched to various destinations, notably the capital city of Accra. Some of the vehicles spotted had such registration number as GT 1961 D, GE 636409, GT 23482 E, GT2348 T, and GE 5692 W.The stoutly-built supervisor of the operations there, who refused to give his name to The Heritage, at least gave away some identity, albeit unwittingly. His KIA Sportage cross country car was parked nearby, bearing the registration number GW 524 W. This stern-looking man appeared shocked when contacted at the site and fumbled with his words before managing to claim that they had secured permission from some officials of Vodafone to abuse the environment. When called to confirm or deny, sources at the national telecommunication company refuted the sand winners� capo�s claim. While public reaction from Vodafone was awaited, The Heritage contacted the Public Relations Department of the company last Wednesday. It denied the company ever gave that portion of land to any individual to win sand from. Officials, however, assured that they would contact the police to dispatch a team of personnel to arrest the culprits.