THE Sol2023 National Hosting Authority (NHA) are concerned with recent media reports regarding the recent sit in protest by local construction workers working on the Sol2023 Pacific Games Stadium project constructed by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).
The NHA respects the CCECC and its employees and wants to ensure this dispute is resolved as quickly as possible to avoid strain on the completion timeframe of the project.
NHA Secretariat and Project Management Unit have met with and have received concerns from the local workers which are: an increase in their rates per hour; inconsistency in hourly rates, redundancy payments at the end of project.
In regards to rates per hour, the workers demand is for their hourly rates to be increased to $20 per hour. It was confirmed to them that there is no legal agreement by the government for employees to be paid $20 per hour. However, the employer (CCECC) is only obliged to pay them accordingly terms and conditions of their signed contracts.
CCECC maintains that all workers performances are reviewed on quarterly basis and increase in their hourly wages are based on their performances. Most of the workers have benefited from their performance reviews and have already been receiving salary increments.
In addition, CCECC also pays the following allowances: food allowance, transport allowance, danger allowance and housing allowance. In addition, CCECC also pays all the conditions as required under the labor Act of Solomon Islands.
CCECC also confirmed that all the employees whose term of contract ends at the end of the project will be paid a redundancy payment.
The Main stadium project is set to complete within the next five months in time for checks and inspection before the official handover to the NHA on behalf of the government.
The NHA therefore encouraged all the workers to return to work despite the minor impasse and focus more on the long existing cooperation which they have established with Chinese counterparts which has resulted in the steady progress of the 2023 Pacific Games Stadium project as evidenced in the latest pictures taken as of 14/02/2023.
