Solenta forcing pilots to return to Abidjan
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Right said SRT
Nicely said SRT.
Too all those skittish whiners, I just want to remind you this is Africa. Its not a continent for sissy's.
I never understand little whiners like the putty. Listen boet if you cannot take the heat get out the fire. Go and fly for a flying school or the news chopper. Just stop whingeing! Remember you have a choice. Employment is not a right, it is a privilage, that you choose to partake in or not.
Grow up.
PS Gunns Ill take you up on your offer. I need serious help over another couple of beers..... You really pay that much!!!
Too all those skittish whiners, I just want to remind you this is Africa. Its not a continent for sissy's.
never ever signed up for this risky nonsense
Grow up.
PS Gunns Ill take you up on your offer. I need serious help over another couple of beers..... You really pay that much!!!
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Putt for dough
Unlike Contraxdog & SRT, I won't tell you that you are a "sissy" or a "snotty kid"... Even though your post clearly shows you are...
Hey, you know, if you feel unsafe in Abidjan, just LEAVE. Dozens of pilots in Africa who fly for outfits much worse than Solenta will replace you. So just GO, my friend.
And, by the way, being paid at the end of the month CAN be considered luxury on this continent.
Guns: I don't feel like being sorted out by a psycho, but hell do I need a beer
Hey, you know, if you feel unsafe in Abidjan, just LEAVE. Dozens of pilots in Africa who fly for outfits much worse than Solenta will replace you. So just GO, my friend.
And, by the way, being paid at the end of the month CAN be considered luxury on this continent.
Guns: I don't feel like being sorted out by a psycho, but hell do I need a beer
GunsssR4ever
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TTF .. beer's on me ... come around 
The Un is not happy re Abidjan (again) .. here we go from IRIN
The Un is not happy re Abidjan (again) .. here we go from IRIN
The UN peacekeeping mission in Cote d'Ivoire has expressed concern about the security situation in Abidjan and other towns and has called on the government to disarm militia bands and other armed groups operating there immediately.
"The United Nations Operation in Coted d'Ivoire (ONUCI) has expressed its concern over the security situation," ONUCI said in a statement on Wednesday night. "The positive effects of... mixed patrols in conjunction with the Ivorian Defence Forces... are being jeopardized by the activities of these armed groups and militias in certain areas."
Citing "an increased level of criminal activities," "ONUCI launched "an urgent appeal to the Ivorian authorities to take action to disarm and dismantle these groups without delay."
Last week two people died and several were injured when the the Patriotic Grouping for Peace (GPP), a uniformed militia group that supports President Laurent Gbagbo, staged a 15-minute gunfight with police in the Abidjan suburb of Adjame in broad daylight.
And this week, residents' nerves were rattled by the attempted murder of Daniel Brechat, a French businessman, who chairs an association of small businesses in Cote d'Ivoire.
Men dressed in military camouflage shot Brechat in the stomach in Abidjan last Tuesday and left him for dead, one of the businessman's associates told IRIN. Brechat was currently being treated at the main French military base in the city, they added.
The French businessman, a long-time resident of Cote d'Ivoire, had publicly criticised the government for failing to intervene when mobs rampaged through central Abidjan in November looting and torching French homes, schools and businesses.
The government has since promised compensation.
But it is ordinary Ivorians who suffer hardest from the worsening security.
Residents in Adjame have long accused the GPP, who occupied a local school last August and turned into a training camp, of extortion and bullying.
Last month, the militia group clashed with local taxi drivers and traders. The two sides through stones at each other.
But things got out of hand on 3 February when the GPP picked a quarrel with cadets from the nearby police academy. Hundreds of young men ended up trading automatic weapons fire in the street.
Colonel Philippe Mangou, the chief of staff of the armed forces was called to the scene to help restore peace.
But on Thursday , he dismissed security concerns about the GPP, which accuses most Adjame residents of supporting the rebel movement that occupies the north of Cote d'Ivoire.
"The GPP are not armed," Mangou told reporters as he repeatedly dismissed questions about last week's shoot-out.
"They are real Ivorians who are aware of the danger that is hovering over our country," Mangou said. "I have been to their camp and I can confirm that I have not seen any weapons there."
A correspondent for IRIN was caught in the thick of last week's gunfight and saw men on both sides firing automatic rifles.
Mangou countered by outlining demands of his own, saying he wanted notification before any international peacekeepers searched military cargoes.
The UN Security Council, which is trying to prevent Cote d'Ivoire sliding back into civil war, tightened its arms embargo against the West African country last month. It gave more than 10,000 UN and French peacekeepers patrolling a fragile ceasefire in Cote d'Ivoire the authority to carry search military installations without advance warning.
"We are going to sit down with the peacekeeping forces to discuss how the resolution is going to be applied," Mangou said. "But we have asked to be notified first."
He also said the Ivorian government was forging ahead with plans to repair fighter bombers and helicopter gunships which were damaged by French peacekeepers during a latest flare-up in hostilities three months ago.
France crippled most of Ivory Coast's air force on the ground after nine of its peacekeepers died during a government bombing raid on the rebel capital Bouake in early November.
Last month, the UN authorized the army to transfer three damaged jets and a Mi-24 helicopter gunship to the main city Abidjan and park them at the airport under UN supervision.
Two severely damaged planes have still to be moved by road from the political capital Yamoussoukro, but two others were ostentatiously flown to Abidjan late January. The move sparked fears among residents that hostilities would resume.
The United Nations rowed back on initial public statements that it had given the green light for the warplanes to be repaired and France said that it would not allow the damaged aircraft to be restored to flying condition.
Despite these warnings, Mangou said categorically on Thursday: "We are going to repair the aircraft. Nobody can stop us from repairing our planes."
However, he added, "It is not our aim to launch another offensive."
A spokesman for ONUCI declined to comment on his remarks.
Mangou also attempted to quash speculation about the fate of his predecessor as head of the government's armed forces, General Mathias Doue. Mangou said he was in hospital receiving treatment for high blood pressure.
Doue was sacked in November after French military intervention stopped the government offensive in its tracks.
Diplomats believe the military push was organised by Mangou on the authority of the president without Doue's direct involvement. Doue, who had never got on well with Gbagbo, disappeared from public view immediately after he was dismissed.
Local newspapers have speculated that the general has gone into hiding because he fears for his life and that several officers close to him have fled the country.
But Mangou denied this, saying Doue was still receiving treatment in an un-named hospital. "He is not very well, he is resting," he said.
The other officers who had disappeared from public view "are in the country and have been in touch with the Defence Ministry," Mangou added.
"The United Nations Operation in Coted d'Ivoire (ONUCI) has expressed its concern over the security situation," ONUCI said in a statement on Wednesday night. "The positive effects of... mixed patrols in conjunction with the Ivorian Defence Forces... are being jeopardized by the activities of these armed groups and militias in certain areas."
Citing "an increased level of criminal activities," "ONUCI launched "an urgent appeal to the Ivorian authorities to take action to disarm and dismantle these groups without delay."
Last week two people died and several were injured when the the Patriotic Grouping for Peace (GPP), a uniformed militia group that supports President Laurent Gbagbo, staged a 15-minute gunfight with police in the Abidjan suburb of Adjame in broad daylight.
And this week, residents' nerves were rattled by the attempted murder of Daniel Brechat, a French businessman, who chairs an association of small businesses in Cote d'Ivoire.
Men dressed in military camouflage shot Brechat in the stomach in Abidjan last Tuesday and left him for dead, one of the businessman's associates told IRIN. Brechat was currently being treated at the main French military base in the city, they added.
The French businessman, a long-time resident of Cote d'Ivoire, had publicly criticised the government for failing to intervene when mobs rampaged through central Abidjan in November looting and torching French homes, schools and businesses.
The government has since promised compensation.
But it is ordinary Ivorians who suffer hardest from the worsening security.
Residents in Adjame have long accused the GPP, who occupied a local school last August and turned into a training camp, of extortion and bullying.
Last month, the militia group clashed with local taxi drivers and traders. The two sides through stones at each other.
But things got out of hand on 3 February when the GPP picked a quarrel with cadets from the nearby police academy. Hundreds of young men ended up trading automatic weapons fire in the street.
Colonel Philippe Mangou, the chief of staff of the armed forces was called to the scene to help restore peace.
But on Thursday , he dismissed security concerns about the GPP, which accuses most Adjame residents of supporting the rebel movement that occupies the north of Cote d'Ivoire.
"The GPP are not armed," Mangou told reporters as he repeatedly dismissed questions about last week's shoot-out.
"They are real Ivorians who are aware of the danger that is hovering over our country," Mangou said. "I have been to their camp and I can confirm that I have not seen any weapons there."
A correspondent for IRIN was caught in the thick of last week's gunfight and saw men on both sides firing automatic rifles.
Mangou countered by outlining demands of his own, saying he wanted notification before any international peacekeepers searched military cargoes.
The UN Security Council, which is trying to prevent Cote d'Ivoire sliding back into civil war, tightened its arms embargo against the West African country last month. It gave more than 10,000 UN and French peacekeepers patrolling a fragile ceasefire in Cote d'Ivoire the authority to carry search military installations without advance warning.
"We are going to sit down with the peacekeeping forces to discuss how the resolution is going to be applied," Mangou said. "But we have asked to be notified first."
He also said the Ivorian government was forging ahead with plans to repair fighter bombers and helicopter gunships which were damaged by French peacekeepers during a latest flare-up in hostilities three months ago.
France crippled most of Ivory Coast's air force on the ground after nine of its peacekeepers died during a government bombing raid on the rebel capital Bouake in early November.
Last month, the UN authorized the army to transfer three damaged jets and a Mi-24 helicopter gunship to the main city Abidjan and park them at the airport under UN supervision.
Two severely damaged planes have still to be moved by road from the political capital Yamoussoukro, but two others were ostentatiously flown to Abidjan late January. The move sparked fears among residents that hostilities would resume.
The United Nations rowed back on initial public statements that it had given the green light for the warplanes to be repaired and France said that it would not allow the damaged aircraft to be restored to flying condition.
Despite these warnings, Mangou said categorically on Thursday: "We are going to repair the aircraft. Nobody can stop us from repairing our planes."
However, he added, "It is not our aim to launch another offensive."
A spokesman for ONUCI declined to comment on his remarks.
Mangou also attempted to quash speculation about the fate of his predecessor as head of the government's armed forces, General Mathias Doue. Mangou said he was in hospital receiving treatment for high blood pressure.
Doue was sacked in November after French military intervention stopped the government offensive in its tracks.
Diplomats believe the military push was organised by Mangou on the authority of the president without Doue's direct involvement. Doue, who had never got on well with Gbagbo, disappeared from public view immediately after he was dismissed.
Local newspapers have speculated that the general has gone into hiding because he fears for his life and that several officers close to him have fled the country.
But Mangou denied this, saying Doue was still receiving treatment in an un-named hospital. "He is not very well, he is resting," he said.
The other officers who had disappeared from public view "are in the country and have been in touch with the Defence Ministry," Mangou added.
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The problem with "hundreds of young men exchanging automatic weapons fire" is that it's not aimed fire at an identified target. The normal posture is one of secure cover with only the weapon poked over a parapet or round a corner while a magazine is emptied in the general direction, leading to high civilian casualties. However, the little posers are pretty brave when up against unarmed women and children...
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Whoa there John Wayne...
These comments are a little out of line I think....
"I never understand little whiners like the putty. Listen boet if you cannot take the heat get out the fire. Go and fly for a flying school or the news chopper. Just stop whingeing! Remember you have a choice. Employment is not a right, it is a privilage, that you choose to partake in or not."
FIRSTLY: While you are correct that employment is not a right, decent working conditions are - see basic conditions of employment act! You either sign up for it or you dont. No one signed up for "war conditions" when they joined Solenta. If they wanted to do that they would join the army - and if you seriously believe that this is what you want to do, then go join the army - Africa aint for sissies right??????
SECONDLY: You fly cause you want to fly - for the love of it. Not for risking the fact that you may never see your wife or kids again. If you have something to lose back home, it does tend to change your risk tolerance.
"Hey, you know, if you feel unsafe in Abidjan, just LEAVE. Dozens of pilots in Africa who fly for outfits much worse than Solenta will replace you. So just GO, my friend." -
WE SHOULD ALL TAKE ISSUE WITH THIS COMMENT. This acknowledges the exploitation of African pilots and accepts it. While the comment may be true, just because it is surely we dont have to accept being treated like @#$%#$ - wether its true from Solenta or not!
Surely there is a balance here.... whingers; and fair pay for fair work? Maybe you guys are getting bored with the thread of comment, but comment... as they say when you have walked a mile in their shoes!
These comments are a little out of line I think....
"I never understand little whiners like the putty. Listen boet if you cannot take the heat get out the fire. Go and fly for a flying school or the news chopper. Just stop whingeing! Remember you have a choice. Employment is not a right, it is a privilage, that you choose to partake in or not."
FIRSTLY: While you are correct that employment is not a right, decent working conditions are - see basic conditions of employment act! You either sign up for it or you dont. No one signed up for "war conditions" when they joined Solenta. If they wanted to do that they would join the army - and if you seriously believe that this is what you want to do, then go join the army - Africa aint for sissies right??????
SECONDLY: You fly cause you want to fly - for the love of it. Not for risking the fact that you may never see your wife or kids again. If you have something to lose back home, it does tend to change your risk tolerance.
"Hey, you know, if you feel unsafe in Abidjan, just LEAVE. Dozens of pilots in Africa who fly for outfits much worse than Solenta will replace you. So just GO, my friend." -
WE SHOULD ALL TAKE ISSUE WITH THIS COMMENT. This acknowledges the exploitation of African pilots and accepts it. While the comment may be true, just because it is surely we dont have to accept being treated like @#$%#$ - wether its true from Solenta or not!
Surely there is a balance here.... whingers; and fair pay for fair work? Maybe you guys are getting bored with the thread of comment, but comment... as they say when you have walked a mile in their shoes!
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It seems today's whiners & kla-g@tte did not go thru the """" maschine- they come straight from boarding school @ four three or elsewhere and into kingairs etc cause daddy (or mommy,as in CPT recently)pays-hence the cheek,sometimes we read about these fellows in newspapers-if you can not take the pace brother as the man said,leave-there are others waiting-see if you can land a job back in SA without fail!
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last word
Fliterisk,
Yes you are right "The conditions of employment act" does give you the right to a safe working enviroment. However it does so within the Borders of the New South Africa. Anybody that signs up for work in Africa that is naive enough to think that they are going to have the same conditions in the Bunia, Abijan or Lagos,than in Bloemfontein or Bultfontein shouldnt be out here in the first place. He should have stayed right at home. So if he only found out now, and still isnt comfortable with it, it would be a good time to exercize his right of assosiation guaranteed by the constitution of SA, and and talk with his feet. Nobody will call him a sissy or a coward, but a man of conviction. We might differ with his conviction but we will respect him. But not if he whines, and still cashes his check.
That will be it from me.
Yes you are right "The conditions of employment act" does give you the right to a safe working enviroment. However it does so within the Borders of the New South Africa. Anybody that signs up for work in Africa that is naive enough to think that they are going to have the same conditions in the Bunia, Abijan or Lagos,than in Bloemfontein or Bultfontein shouldnt be out here in the first place. He should have stayed right at home. So if he only found out now, and still isnt comfortable with it, it would be a good time to exercize his right of assosiation guaranteed by the constitution of SA, and and talk with his feet. Nobody will call him a sissy or a coward, but a man of conviction. We might differ with his conviction but we will respect him. But not if he whines, and still cashes his check.
That will be it from me.
