Executives of Chinese Firm Dismiss Ill Treatment Claims

After a deadly fire claimed the lives of seven and injured many at the construction site of the 60,000-seat Adey Abeba Stadium, a contracted premises of the Chinese State Engineering Corporation Ltd (CSCEC) in Ethiopia, executives of the company dispelled what they believe is unsubstantiated claims made about the treatment of the now deceased and rumors of ill treatment of the still injured.

The company invited The Reporter for an extended conversation with the executives of the company, along with their attorney Biset Beyene Molla, and employees who were witness of the accident and its aftermath.

“There is a different narrative than the ones that are being reported by various media,” Michael Tefera, an employee, said. “We have given the best care, travelled up to 800 km to pay our respect and open the conversation with the family about what had transpired.”

Michael also told The Reporter that the families had been hearing secondhand information that the fire was started as a result of ethnic and religion conflicts.

“That was not the case,” he said. “We did not separate any of our employees based on ethnicity or religion.”

Providing physical documents to dispute all claims made against the company, one of the premier construction companies in the world, locally involved in the construction of the conference center of the African Union and the headquarters of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia and NOC Ethiopia, they claimed there are two sides to the story that has reached the attention of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of China as well as international media, including The Washington Post.

Read more at: The Reporter