Activities at the Banjul Breweries are said to have been virtually paralyzed following the industrial strike embarked upon by employees of the bottlers of beverages such as Beer, Stout, Malta, Cocktail and Vimto.

According to sources from the inner circle of Banjul Breweries, the strike, which led to a shortage of essential beverages like Stout, Beer, Vimto and Malta, sprang from internal factors of discontentment and not externally induced. “The workers are pressing for a review of their salary structure that should have been done for the past three years but has not been effectively carried out. The review of the salary structure will see an increase in the salaries of the staff as well as improvement of their welfare,”said a senior staff of the company.

Sources further revealed that production at the brewery could not meet the demand because workers are on a slow-down strike, meaning a reduction in the man-hours. “The company is operating far below the expectations. This is not only causing shortage of their products in the market but it’s also affecting businesses some of which have now started down-sizing their staff,” said another source.

Efforts to establish the veracity of the story were futile as the Managing Director, who was said to be busy in a meeting, could not be reached for comment. However an insider has confirmed the story, adding that the chairman of the Board of Directors of the company is currently in town in a bid to see how the problem could be resolved.

In another development, Mr. Robinson Obi-Egbedi, the Managing Director of Heritage Enterprise, has intelligently and cooly responded to one of our Friday edition page stories. It was stated in the story that Robinson was carting away the lion’s share of beverages such as Beer and Stout at the expense of retailers. But according to Mr. Robinson, in accordance with his status as a distributor, he was supposed to get more than what he was getting.

He added: “ We are still being marginalised in respect of our work and commitment. And this is making it difficult for us to maintain our staff. As a distributor, I used to get a minimum of, everything held constant, 45% of their beer products but what is allocated to me now is less than 25%. We are distributors, supplying hotels, restaurants and other outfits. We deliver for the Banjul Breweries because they no more go from door to door. We are major distributors which is why we are given the responsibility and priority.”

Meanwhile, according to Alagie Colley and Ma-Lamin Jammeh of Heritage Enterprise, the industrial strike at Banjul Breweries is threatening their livelihood.

“True, Robinson is not a Gambian but he’s supporting many Gambian citizens through employment creation and executing other social and corporate responsibilities. But due to the strike, many of us are now in fear about the security of our jobs,” they said.