The U.K.’s Daily Mail reported that a Liberian rubber farm had banished the family members of an Ebola victim who had lost his life through the epidemic. The Fire Stone Rubber Farm situated just outside the capital city of Monrovia, and its laborers have expressed great outrage at this inhumane action.
Fire Stone Rubber Farm has been supplying rubber for Bridge Stone, one of the 3 largest tire manufacturing corporations. However, most of their rubber comes from an area that is rampant with the Ebola virus. The farm’s first Ebola patient was found in March, and since then 57 people had died. 9 of these people were farm employees. Even though they were aware of the dangers of Ebola in the area, the farm continued with their work there.
Until recently, Fire Stone Rubber Farm had been working hard to stop the virus from spreading further. The farm was running its own health care center for its employees and had even received good reviews after it had been evaluated by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). However, they had ordered the family of an employee who had fallen victim to the Ebola virus to leave the area.
The Daily Mail reported that the company had paid the victim’s family around 1,400 dollars which is 18 months’ worth of wages and an additional 300 dollars for compensation and a sack of rice. Other farm employees expressed that this was simply too little. The laborers of the farm even expressed that working conditions are very poor, and yet the company is still not paying his family back for all his hard work despite harsh circumstances.
In Fire Stone Rubber Farm, and the area surrounding it are around 8,000 employees. It is believed that all workers are paid 5 USD a day with no days off.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that so far, Liberia has had 2,964 Ebola victims. The highest number of deaths in the world.
