Private Security Firms urged to improve conditions of guards
“Private security companies owe it as an obligation to themselves and society to improve remuneration and conditions of service for their Security Guards,” that is the belief of the President of the Sierra Leone Labour Congress, Mr. Mohamed A. Deen.
Describing them as the providers of safety for their clients, he noted that a hungry Security Guard was a potential collaborator to the commission of crime.
He maintained that it was therefore imperative for owners of private security companies to improve the conditions of service of there Security Guards.
In an exclusive interview this medium, at his Wallace Johnson Street office in Freetown, he revealed that private security workers earn an average monthly gross salary of Le200,000 which he said, formed the basis for their deep-seated resentment.
“In the true sense of security, clients should not go to sleep when those guarding them and their assets are poorly paid and are aggrieved,” he observed.
He recommended to security companies to improve the pay levels of their workers to enable them to attract and retain competent and dedicated calibre of personnel.
Investigations conducted by this Reporter revealed that most of these private security companies are not paying their Security Guards satisfactory salaries considering the nature of their jobs.
In snap interviews with some Security Guards, most of them told said that they have no option but to accept these bad salaries, observing that instead of engaging in criminal activities it is better to take the jobs.
The investigations further found out that a good number of these Security Guards are between the ages of twenty to thirty five years while some of them attend Senior Secondary Schools during the day and embark on their security duties at night.
The investigations also discovered that while the preponderance of low salaries in the private security industry was not isolated, it also reflected to a large extent, the low level of education of workers in the industry since majority of them had only Junior or Senior Secondary School level of education.
By Sheikh Ahmed
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