Workers at Juba International Airport went on strike yesterday briefly for about two hours demanding unpaid allowances from the Civil Aviation Authority and protesting poor working conditions. But later in the day a top official announced work resumed.
Speaking to the press at the Ministry of Roads and Transport yesterday afternoon, Undersecretary David Martin Hassan said work has resumed at the airport. He disclosed there had been an urgent meeting called by the ministry with senior staffs of the Aviation Authority.
“We just had an extraordinary meeting chaired by the honorable minister and the deputy minister to discuss general administrative issues at the civil aviation authority. The meeting went quite well and all the heads of the units were here and they are all confirmed to the minister that they are going to cooperate and continue their work despite their difficulties,” he said.
An eyewitness at the Juba Airport yesterday morning said angry staffs had stopped working and were waiting for their demands to be addressed.
Kur Kuol Ajieu, Director of Juba International Airport, disclosed that only two people were left at the control tower yesterday morning. Meanwhile, he claimed that the demand of the staffs to pay two months’ allowances was addressed.
“It was just a small administrative issues which was not been addressed by the management, and the airport was closed just for two hours and the operation is going normal — and you will never hear anything tomorrow,” Kuol said.