Meteorological staff threaten to lay down tools if ...

Mrs Doreen Owusu-Fianko, Managing Director of
 Ghana Airport Company Limited

Senior Meteorologist at the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMA), Muller Tsatsu Siameh has accused the Ghana Airport Company (GAC) for sitting on their allowances due them.

According to him, staff of the GMA at the Kotoka International Airport are being faced with a myriad of challenges such as accommodation, lack of equipment needed to monitor the weather, transportation among others due to the refusal of the GAC to pay them their monies.

He said, if the GAC fails to address the problem, staff of the GMA would have no option than to advise themselves and sit back.

Mr Siameh who was speaking on e.tv Ghana’s morning show, Awake, said the work of meteorologists at the airport complimented the work of the airport authority since they are able to predict and advise on certain weather conditions which might affect flights at a particular point in time.

He said their work mandated them to work around the clock, thus it was important for the GAC to give them accommodation since their salaries were not enough to cater for all their needs.

“If they don’t give us accommodation within the next few weeks, we will be forced to advise ourselves,” he noted.

Mr Siameh was however, apologetic to the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), another agency that the GMA works in collaboration with the GAC, since their move will in turn affect their operations as well.

According to him, “GCAA pays us but Ghana Airport Company has refused to pay us our money. And that is preventing our management to provide us accommodation and other things that we need to work.”

Mr Siameh said among other things that the salary of workers at the GMA were not attractive enough, thus the inability of the agency to retain workers for a longer period of time.

The GMA has in recent times been bashed for failure to inform the public on weather conditions.

Ghana was on Saturday, May 19, 2012 hit by an unusual rainstorm which claimed some lives and ripped off many roof tops and bill boards.

When asked if the GMA had lived up to expectation in the delivery of weather updates to the public, Mr Siameh said the GMA was indeed faced with problems, thus its inability to live up to expectation.

Despite the challenges, he said the GMA regularly relays information to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation and the National Disaster and Management Organisation.

He also indicated that “the problem is that the media houses do not come and register with us. We are mandated to give the weather forecast to NADMO and GTV.”

He said, if the GMA probably had a television or radio station of its own, it would be more effective.

The GMA falls under the umbrella of the Ministry of Communication, and according to Mr Siameh, they have sent a petition to the Ministry to address the problems being faced by the Agency.

Jasmine Arku / etv Ghana.com