Local workers contracted to build the Takoradi Thermal Plant 3 at Aboadze in the Shama District have laid down their tools to demand better working conditions. The workers insist they will not return to work on the national project until their demands are met. When Maxx News arrived on the company’s premises, the angry workers had created a barricade at the gate, to prevent management members who had attempted to leave the premises in the heat of the workers agitations from doing so. They held placards some of which read, “we are being cheated in our own country”, “Bad management, we are not slaves” amongst others. The about 489 workers engaged by Jorsen Ventures Company, on behalf of S&W Energy Solutions , the Houston-based company building the plant, say they have worked for about eight months without appointment letters only for their letters to be made available last Friday with terms and conditions that are not in their best interest. They say attempts to meet the management of JVC and S&W have proven futile, hence their decision to stop working. One of the local supervisors for the piping division, Theophilus Adams told Maxx News aside the poor working conditions; the foreign company has no respect for the local workers. “When we started work and asked for agreement forms they told us that with time we will get it, but it’s been eight months and they have now given us appointment letters which have a lot of questions to be answered by the representative company, JVC, on behalf of S&W”. He said: “The salary structure here is very poor, but I know that sometimes due to performance we get some increments. There are so many things like height allowance which have been disregarded. We asked for working gears and they said they are not going to give us. This is a project for the entire nation, and the President is doing his best to make sure we get power and we have the capabilities to build this one in time. What we are saying is that, this is important and if we have the provisions, by February we will finish this job for the plant to start running. We are human beings so we need to be treated well.” Some of the workers also complained bitterly about the level of disrespect for their welfare and safety by the foreign company, and thus called on authorities concerned to ensure that they are treated fairly by their employers who are foreigners. They alleged that, a local worker nearly lost his life through an electric shock Tuesday, as he worked under very risky conditions without the necessary protective gears, and even risk allowance. Officials of the Volta River Authority (VRA), and S&W, are yet to comment on the latest developments. This is the second demonstration since the start of the project. A forth night ago, those engaged in civil works by CONSAR Limited, a building and civil construction company in Ghana, also laid down their tools over similar issues. The Takoradi Thermal Plant 3, an expansion of the Takoradi Thermal Power Station, is expected to add 132 megawatts of power to the national grid. This will increase the total capacity of the Takoradi thermal station to 792 megawatts when completed. These agitations are likely to delay the project which is expected to be functional by February 2012.