Ester Mbathera
Thirteen Namibian workers were dismissed from the Santorini oil drilling ship on Friday, just two weeks after starting work with Connect Catering Services (CCS).
CCS is subcontracted by Pellegrini Catering Overseas, which is contracted by Galp Energia, the Portuguese oil company with a majority stake in the Orange Basin’s Petroleum Exploration Licence 83.
Attempts to get a comment from Hugo Lopes, the operations director of CCS, proved futile, as he did not respond to questions sent to him via WhatsApp.
The Windhoek Observer wanted to understand the rationale behind the decision to replace Namibian employees.
This publication also wanted to know if the Namibian contingent of the workforce was provided with any notice or alternative employment options before their contracts were terminated to make room for expatriates.
CCS has trained over 45 Namibians.
Seven other Namibians are expected to be offloaded from the drilling ship over the weekend.
The Windhoek Observer understands that the fact that they are subcontracted by Pelligrini in this regard means they work strictly on their terms and conditions.
Knowledge Ipinge, the founder of the Namibia Association for Offshore Oil and Gas Service Providers (NAOOGSP), questioned this decision.
“We will not sit back and watch our fellow Namibians being sacrificed for the benefit of expatriate employees in our waters, especially when the employment agreements of the Namibians are still active and they possess all the required qualifications and certifications to work on the drillship,” he said.
Ipinge said he is engaging the Namibian authorities and will closely monitor the situation.
“We will not rest until the Indonesian expatriates are removed from the drillship and the responsible foreign companies are suspended from obtaining future contracts in Namibian waters. If there is a genuine compromise by the foreign service companies Saipem, Pellegrini and Connect Catering Services to be specific, then let them prove it by ensuring that the last group of Namibians left on the Santorini drillship are not removed tomorrow as initially planned and offer all Namibians more favourable contracts to remedy their exploitation,” he said.
The executive director of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ettiene Maritz, did not respond to questions sent to him by the time of publication.
The Windhoek observer wanted to know if it is found to be true that Namibians were replaced with Indonesians, and what actions the Ministry will take to prevent the displacement of Namibian workers by expatriates.