By Donstance Koroma
A looming sanitation crisis threatens to engulf Connaught Hospital, the main government referral facility in the capital, as 42 contract cleaning staff employed by Salma Trading Company have announced plans to cease work over five months of unpaid salaries.
The workers, who are responsible for maintaining hygiene across the hospital’s wards, say they have not received wages for March, April, May, June, and July. They have vowed to down tools on Friday, August 1, unless urgent steps are taken to resolve the impasse.
We are overburdened, underpaid, and disrespected. Some of us are sick, in debt, and still showing up every day to clean the hospital, one staff member told this reporter, now we’ve reached our breaking point.
Salma trading company was awarded the government contract for hospital cleaning services for the 2025 fiscal year, however, workers allege that since the death of the company’s owner, Madam Salma, two months ago, salary payments have become erratic dropping from monthly payments to what they described as a 1-3-4 ratio, meaning staff receives one month’s salary every three to four months.
According to government procurement norms, service providers must demonstrate financial capacity to pay staff monthly, while the government settles payments quarterly. Staff claim the company has failed to meet this standard.
Before her death, Madam Salma was consistent with salaries. But she also confided that the government owed the company an 11-month backlog, another worker explained, Since then, her family representatives have promised payment but haven’t delivered.”
Beyond delayed wages, the workers are raising serious concerns about their working conditions. They say they lack Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), have no access to medical care, and often face verbal abuse from hospital staff and patient relatives.
Even when we fall ill, nurses say they’ll treat us only if we buy our own prescribed medication, one worker said, we clean wards every day without gloves, aprons, or even proper disinfectants.”
The workers emphasized that their planned strike is not intended to sabotage patient care, but rather to demand accountability and respect for their basic rights.
With overcrowding already, a serious challenge at Connaught Hospital, the strike could expose deeper management issues that have long remained unaddressed. Poor sanitation in such a critical health facility could lead to increased infection risks, disrupt routine services, and harm patient outcomes.
The Ministry of Health and Sanitation, along with Connaught Hospital’s management and the surviving directors of Salma Trading Company, have been urged to intervene immediately, health sector observers warn that allowing the situation to spiral could damage the government’s reputation and undermine ongoing efforts to improve healthcare delivery.
As of press time, there has been no official response from the Ministry of Health, the hospital administration, or the management of Salma Trading Company,
Copyright –Published in Expo Times News on Friday,1st August 2025 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
