COVID-19 SCARE: WORKERS FLEE FROM FOREMAN
THERE was drama at Maun airport on Monday this week as construction workers dropped their tools and dashed out of their working place for fear of being infected with coronavirus.
This was after one of the foremen of the company, Stefanutti Stocks, flew into Maun airport from South Africa and mixed with the workers, allegedly without first going through, and satisfying, the health checks at the airport.
“This guy just came in. In fact, it was not the first time this happened. Most of our supervisors are from S.A and they just fly in and out of the country without health checks,” a concerned employee explained.
Information from the construction site suggests that workers were on panic mode but were rebuked for raising the alarm.
“We feared for our health. He had just flown in from South Africa where we all know the coronavirus has been spreading like wild fire resulting in a surge in the number of confirmed cases with each passing day,” explained another employee.
Allegedly, after the incident, one of the officers who works under the company’s health and safety department - only known to this publication as Mmoloki - was accused of fuelling the panic and therefore suspended from work.
However, it was after some of the employees protested against his suspension and threatened to report the behaviour to the powers that be that Mmoloki was allegedly called back to work.
Responding to our enquiry on Wednesday afternoon, Mmoloki declined to comment on whether or not he was suspended but instead chose to say, “What I can tell you is that I am at work even as we speak.”
The construction company managers declined to comment on the matter and referred the questions to the airport extension Project Manager, Mark Skelton, who only explained that the foreman is currently in self-quarantine.
“I cannot discuss the details of the incident because I was not there. I really do not know much about the case,” said Skelton, who works for the consultancy company, Royal Haskoning.