Edo State Govt Assures Street Sweepers of Pay Rise
By Lucky Isibor
Against the backdrop of the nation's economic challenges and the attendant hardship it has brought on the people, the Edo State Government has assured Edo "street sweepers" that they will get pay rise from the state government in the next few weeks to cushion the effects of the economic crunch.
Edo State Commissioner for Environment and Sustainability
The Edo State Commissioner for Environment and Sustainability, Arc. Joshua Omokhodion who gave the assurance in Benin City, Monday, 3 July further assured that the welfare and wellbeing of Edo people is the priority of the Governor Godwin Obaseki led administration.
The Commissioner's assurance came on the heels of a peaceful protest by some of the street sweepers earlier on Monday, appealing to the state government to increase their pay as a result of the nation's economic crunch.
While speaking on behalf of the sweepers, Glory Efosa, said in the past six years, they have been receiving the old minimum wage of N18,000 adding that their take home becomes N17, 820 monthly after tax.
According to her, "Our salary is N18,000 but after tax, it will be N17,820 and this has been on for many years. We have protested on many occasions but fell on deaf ears.
"For over six years, we are still receiving the old minimum wage. Now that everything is now expensive, we decided to come out because the N17,820 can not buy anything from the market. It can no longer feed our children or pay their school fees or house rents".
The Commissioner for Environment and Sustainability, while speaking with newsmen on the protest stated that he was taken aback by the protest of some of the Edo Sweepers disclosing that only last Wednesday the Edo State Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa (Esq) told them that their pay would be reviewed upward in the next two weeks or latest in the next one month adding that presently Edo State government pays the highest minimum wage in the country.
"We appreciate and understand their agitations. The bottom line is that they've said what their take home is at the moment is quite below the minimum wage. As a government we are committed to the welfare of our people and Edo State as it were pays the highest minimum wage in the country. We appreciate that the economic challenges in the country is bitting very hard on every citizen of Edo State. Therefore, as a government the welfare and their wellbeing is paramount to us .
"Yes, we've heard about these agitations, just less than a week ago, precisely last weekend the issue was brought to our attention and in clear terms the Head of Service (HOS), addressed that issue with them and they were very happy. The HOS promised that within a fortnight and maximum in the next one month these issues will be addressed and dealt with decisively and there was even a huge promise that they will likely get more than 50%raise of what they are currently earning but they should just give us time to work out the modalities for all of them to have these benefits."
Expressing surprise at the protest, the Commissioner for Environment and Sustainability noted that; "So, we're taken aback this morning when we were told that there were some agitations to some bodies like the NUJ and all that saying they're having issues with government on the issue of emoluments and all that.
"What I want to assure is that, as a government we are not going to abdicate our responsibility, we are not going to negate the fact that we understand their challenges. So what we need from them is just some level of patience, let them exercise patience and I assure them that their welfare and wellbeing is paramount to us and in the next two weeks to say four weeks they can be rest assured that these issues will be addressed and addressed decisively", the Commissioner assured.
Comments
Post a Comment