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Operations at Malindi Water and Sewerage Company (MAWASCO) offices were on Thursday paralysed following protests by employees.
The mid-morning protests left one person injured after he was hit by a teargas canister following the deployment of anti-riot police to quash the demos.
The workers are protesting over the non-remittance of deductions from their salaries, poor working conditions, lack of job promotions and poor management.
“We’re not getting salary increments and we’re not being paid well. We talked to the management and they said they’ll look into it. Seven years have passed and not even a shilling has been added,” one protestor Moses Mwandoro said.
Another protestor Garama Ngowa complained over the change of the insurance provider saying the new provider is hindering them from getting healthcare services.
“We’ve been trying to call for meetings but no action has been taken, that’s why we decided to hold protests,” Ngowa said.
Speaking on the incident, Kilifi county Water and Sanitation CEC Omar Said Omar vowed to resolve the issue and hold consultative talks with the Board of management to find a solution.
“I’ll hold a meeting with the board and see where the problem is and look for a solution,” he said.
“I tried to talk to them but they refused. It seemed they had already made up their mind and wanted the company to be closed and all operations ceased.”
He promised to investigate the workers’ claims of unpaid salaries as he works on resolving the problem at MAWASCO.
“What I have heard from the board is that they were complaining about job promotion and I will get their side of the story so that we have a common ground,” the CEC said.