Gabonese customs, tax, oil and treasury agents have been on indefinite general strike for almost 3 months. They demand payment of premiums, but also dusting off the files to unmask the phantom agents paid out of billions of FCFA per year. Month. There is certainly a minimum service, but the daily losses will be too great.
as reported from Libreville, Yves-Laurent Goma
A group of unions claiming to be the 3rd way is urging the government and other unions to stop the arm wrestling and came back to the negotiating table to save the country. The appeal from the union agent for finance, budget and oil is the result of an alarming observation. The strike caused huge losses. Public revenues are shrinking.
Compromise
Célestin Essono, the group’s president, is concerned: “the exit of containers in the port is blocked. State public collection is slower. The logical consequence is the pain in which our economy finds itself. ”It is on the strength of this remark that the group asks the other unions and the Minister of Economy to put some water in their wine:” We propose: Gabon first and set aside We need a patriotic drive to hope for an end to the crisis as soon as possible. “
We are open to dialogue, but the negotiations are not blocked by the Association of Tax Collectors, defends Sylvain Ombinda Talewa III, spokesman for this movement, which is accused of being too radical: “No one should win by being radical. The losses are grim and gloomy. It is up to the administration to open negotiations. ”
“We pay tribute to the patriotic enthusiasm of the unions, who show realism when they take into account the difficult situation that the country is going through,” the Ministry of Economy responded without setting a date for the resumption of negotiations.
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