ORGANISED LABOUR RESIND DECISION TO WITHDRAW SERVICES (PAGE 31, JAN 27, 2010)

Members of organised labour in the Bawku municipality have rescinded their decision to withdraw their services by February 1, this year if nothing is done to improve on the security situation in the conflict-prone area.
The decision followed a meeting held between the workers and the Upper East Regional Security Council, as well as the Bawku Municipal Security Committee, in Bawku on Monday.
According to the workers, the decision to call off the threat followed the swift response received from the REGSEC and assurances that everything possible would be done to guarantee their safety.
On January 17, 2010, labour groups in the Bawku municipality threatened to lay down their tools by February 1, 2010 if the government did not act swiftly to ensure a peaceful working environment.
At the meeting in Bawku, the Chairman of the REGSEC, Mr Mark Woyongo, appealed to the workers to exercise restraint, as the government was making all efforts to ensure that lasting peace returned to Bawku.
Mr Woyongo, who is also the Upper East Regional Minister, said the REGSEC was particularly concerned about their well-being as workers and would not sit down for any of them to lose his or her life.
According to him, Bawku had not seen any development project for some time and the municipal assembly was in serious debt because of the conflict.
He added that as a result of the conflict, nobody was willing to invest in the area and a lot of people from Bawku were now relocating to Bolgatanga and other major towns because of the unending clashes.
Those notwithstanding, he said the government would not shirk its responsibility but work tirelessly to get solutions to the problems in the area.
He announced that the REGSEC had given approval for the inclusion of the leadership of organised labour on the Inter-Ethnic Peace Committee to articulate the concerns of workers.
Ms Lucy Gariba of the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU), on behalf of the workers, made suggestions to the government on how to manage the security challenges in the Bawku municipality.
They included the need for the government to consider mounting high surveillance towers at strategic locations to enhance the work of security personnel.
The workers also called on both the government and the security agencies to strengthen intelligence gathering at all times and provide security hotlines for members of the public for the relay of information on criminals.