By By: Moses P. Smith
Monrovia — Three Liberian construction workers hired by DMC Construction have been sacked after a heated confrontation with freelance content creator “JNB Son” at the Japan Freeway extension project, from Freeport to Gabriel Tucker Bridge.
Sources say the workers were dismissed for challenging the narrative the blogger was pushing during a livestream of the ongoing works on Thursday. What started as an exchange over how the project was being portrayed online ended with the company wielding the axe.
The sackings came just hours after the Ministry of Public Works issued a tough statement condemning the workers for allegedly harassing the content creator and trying to stop him from filming a public project.
The Ministry, stressing the road is funded by a Japanese grant to the people of Liberia, said workers have no right to decide who documents public works, and warned that safety rules must not be used as an excuse for intimidation.
But the swift dismissal has now sparked a bigger controversy: Do ordinary Liberian workers have any right to defend themselves when they feel misrepresented on camera, or is transparency now a one-way street where only content creators have rights?
Critics argue the Ministry was quick to protect a blogger with a phone, but silent on due process for three breadwinners who lost their jobs overnight. Others say construction sites are not debate clubs, and workers must remain professional at all times.
As more citizens turn to Facebook Live to police government projects, the incident exposes a growing tension — between the public’s right to film, and workers’ right to not be fired for speaking up.
