Sunbelt, one of the big factories in Namanve industrial park imposed a lockdown on its workers since Uganda announced its first COVID-19 case to-date.
The lockdown according to a source was meant to mitigate the spread of Coronavirus but this has since turned into harassment of workers who are not allowed to access medical care in case they fall sick.
Some of the employees who got injured inside the factory have been ignored by the company’s administration.
Available information suggests that, the company maintains that the factory has a huge order to deliver that is why workers can’t be allowed to leave the premises.
Sunbelt Industries Limited manufactures tarpaulin locally known as tundubale.
“This is a sad scenario happening in our country. Citizens being mistreated by foreigners. In Namanve industrial park, there’s a factory that makes matundubaali called Sunbelt and its casual labourers have been locked in that factory since the lockdown was announced until today and the excuse is, the factory has a huge order that is needed urgently so they can’t let them go home,” a whatsapp message obtained by this website reads.
“They all sleep in a warehouse without proper beddings and they men + women in the same space. When they fall sick, they are given medicine from there. Apparently some of them have got injuries by machines and even lost fingers but they still remain there. The Chinese man is the man in charge on site,” adds the whatsapp text.
Efforts by this website to get a comment from the factory remained futile when we contacted an official whose phone number 0770805324 appears on page of Sunbelt.
“I left that place long time. But I can deliver your concern,” said a man who talked to us.
He later said that he was not in position to share the contact of the MD of Sunbelt insisting that its unprofessional.
