View of the SUN JV workers’ camp at the Polihali project in Mokhotlong. The camp houses over a thousand workers involved in the construction of the Polihali Dam under Phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. Photos: Sechaba Mokhethi

‘Mamohlakola Letuka

The Sun JV consortium behind the M7.68 billion Polihali Dam project says that its worker camp kitchens were not responsible for infecting 133 out of 2192 workers with salmonella. The company pointed to outside sources where workers may have bought food. 

But MNN Centre for Investigative Journalism has established that none of the food sold by outside vendors was tested for salmonella. The company’s report on the outbreak says that none of the water and food samples from the camp kitchens tested positive and, on this basis, concludes that the “most probable source” of the outbreak was from food outside the camp. The report recommends that workers be warned of the risk of buying food outside camp facilities.

The Sun JV is a partnership between Sinohydro Bureau 8 and 14 from China and two South African firms, Unik Civil Engineering and Nthane Brothers. It would not respond to questions directly.  MNNs had to ask questions about the salmonella outbreak through the Lesotho Highlands Development Agency (LDHA), which manages the Lesotho side of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.

In response to MNN questions, LHDA spokesperson Mpho Brown confirmed that the SUN JV investigation into the salmonella outbreak had not conclusively identified a single source.

The LHDA spokesperson, Mpho Brown

MNN visited the 13 vendors who sell food to workers in the area – two vendors are positioned at the camp gates and 11 at the gate to the dam site. The construction workers are their livelihood, which is why the report and warning about their food has been devastating.

Of the 133 workers affected, six suffered severe fever, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting and dehydration, while 49 were classified as moderate and 78 as mild.

Vendor, Malebohang Lebilietsa, who positions herself outside the Polihali construction site before sunrise every day, hoping to sell enough steamed and home-baked bread to support her family, says they are paying the price.

“The company’s shift of blame is unfortunate and mistaken because we do not cook wors or meat, which are what workers complain about. We only cook bread,” she told MNN.

“That report intends to ruin our reputation and business because anyone who has seen it will think the report is correct,” said Lebilietsa.

Malebohang Lebilietsa displays bread she sells outside the SUN JV camp gate at Polihali. Lebilietsa says vendors have suffered reputational and economic harm after a company report suggested the salmonella outbreak that sickened 133 workers may have originated from food consumed outside the camp.

Another vendor, Mamahooana Keresiane, who is a widow supporting three children through selling at one of the SUN JV gates, said their business booms whenever there is a diarrhoea outbreak in the camp as workers avoid eating from the kitchens.

On the salmonella outbreak, questions have been raised by workers and public-health experts about whether enough was done to investigate conditions inside camp gates before attention shifted to outside vendors that were never interviewed or tested.

The main question is whether a negative test on all canteen samples is conclusive. Dr Mamohoanyane Chabana, Mokhotlong’s District Medical Officer does not believe this is enough to rule out the canteen as the salmonella source.

“A negative result doesn’t guarantee safety,” said Chabana who adds that contamination can be intermittent or localised, and contaminated food may already have been consumed or discarded before testing occurs.

The report’s most significant finding, Chabana believes, may be one that received little public attention. Fourteen food handlers employed inside the project’s kitchens tested positive for salmonella.

Chabana said this was “highly significant from a public health perspective”, noting that even a single infected food handler can pose a serious risk because asymptomatic carriers may unknowingly contaminate food.

Workers describe days of illness

In separate interviews with MNN, on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, workers who became ill described severe diarrhea, abdominal pain and weakness, which kept some away from work for days.

One worker said he became sick after lunch and initially believed it was an ordinary stomach problem. “The pain was unbearable…I had to spend all three days without rest. I couldn’t even spend an hour sitting or sleeping. All these sprints were accompanied by severe stomach pains.” He added that clinic staff gave him medication and electrolytes but did not perform laboratory tests on him.

When asked about this, Brown said that the LHDA was aware that perceptions and experiences may differ among individuals. However, he said laboratory testing during outbreaks is often conducted on representative or clinically necessary cases rather than every symptomatic individual.

According to Brown, all workers who reported to the clinic received medical assessment and treatment appropriate to the severity of their condition.

The worker MNN spoke to does not believe the source of the outbreak could have been vendors.

“Given the people that were affected by the outbreak, it cannot be the street vendors because they are not capable of feeding such a crowd,” he said. “Even though we are accused of eating outside, I do not buy from those ladies and had eaten all my meals from the camp that day,” he said.

Food vendors wait for customers near a SUN JV gate at the Polihali project site. The vendors, who rely on construction workers for their livelihoods, say the salmonella outbreak report has cast doubt on their businesses despite no vendor being identified as the source of the illness.

A second worker said he developed fever, weakness and diarrhea after eating meals provided by the company. By the time he sought treatment, he found several others already receiving intravenous drips at the clinic. “Others were busy fighting for their lives and other cases were so severe that they got referred to Botha-Bothe from Mokhotlong district hospitals,” he said.

Like the first worker, he said he relied on food served at the camp for all his meals. “I have never bought from the street vendors,” he said, adding that “The company has not addressed the situation or informed us of what caused the outbreak. They have not held a gathering to show how we can avoid such things in the future.”

According to Brown preventative measures were taken, saying LHDA monitored the contractor’s response, including treatment protocols, monitoring, awareness initiatives and corrective actions. He said additional hygiene and food safety awareness programmes have since been rolled out for kitchen staff and workers.

The worker also questioned why kitchen staff tested positive for salmonella while the kitchens were ruled out as the source. “The thing is no one wants to admit their mistakes. You will find that the blame is always placed on the next person.”

Allegations from inside the kitchens

MNN also interviewed anonymous kitchen workers familiar with food preparation practices on major construction sites linked to the project.

One employee working at the camp alleged that food was sometimes served despite concerns about freshness. Her claims could not be independently verified.

She alleged that kitchen managers occasionally chose not to discard food that was approaching expiry or had been improperly stored because of the financial loss associated with throwing it away. “Food is plentiful and it’s a huge loss to throw it out,” she said.

Another kitchen worker said meat was sometimes cooked under pressure without sufficient thawing. “You know how you cook frozen meat? You need to first defrost it before everything else but here we do not do that,” the worker said.

“You find that it is undercooked because they prepare it under pressure.” The worker added: “I do not think it is people on the outside but the kitchen’s fault.”

Video shot by Billy Ntaote, Sechaba Mokhethi and edited by Retšelisitsoe Khabo

Brown said LHDA treats allegations of improper food storage, undercooked meals or other food safety breaches seriously. He said additional controls had been introduced following the outbreak, including more frequent health testing for kitchen staff, enhanced hygiene training and continued monitoring of food handling practices.

Residential units at the SUN JV workers’ camp overlooking the Polihali construction site in Mokhotlong. The camp was at the centre of a salmonella outbreak that affected 133 workers in April.

“It is important to underscore that LHDA views these allegations in a serious light. These will be investigated further and, if it is established that such practices do exist, those responsible will be held accountable,” Brown said.

Two months after the last worker recovered, no contaminated food source has been publicly identified.

Until investigators can explain precisely how they concluded that food consumed outside the camp was the “most probable source”, questions about what happened at Polihali, and whether the wrong people have been blamed, are likely to persist.

The SUN JV workers’ camp and the rising rock-filled embankment of the Polihali Dam under construction.