Workers left hanging as Petaquilla misses payment deadline

THE DEADLINE for the payment the first half of $3.5 million owed by Petaquilla Minerals to 605 workers passed on Wednesday, October 29, with no money or checks changing hands.

An agreement to pay half the money on Wednesday and the balance on October 31 was reached earlier in the week between the Ministry of Labor and Petaquilla after workers closed a road for eight hours Ministry officials seized some property of the mining company.
According to workers, the legal representative of the company, Richard Fifer, sent a message apologizing for the delay in payment, claiming that any developments would be made known to the unions, but when the payment will be made was not defined.
The note was issued by Panama Infrastructure Development, a subsidiary of Petaquilla Minerals, responsible for road works and public services required in the mine.
At a meeting on Monday between the company president Richard Fifer workers of the mining company, and the Minister of Labor and Workforce Development, Luis Ernesto Carles, the dates were set for the compensation payments reports La Prensa.
The Ministry plans to send a second citation and a group of managers to Petaquilla Minerals.
It is estimated that the company has owed $ 3.5 million to terminated workers since last December, a government official said.