Workers attached to the Community Infrastructure Improvement Programme (CIIP) at the country’s largest Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC); the 52/74 NDC on Monday staged a picketing exercise over unpaid salaries for January.
On Monday, the workers said that their salaries are now more than one month overdue.
“We need money and this is two months now and we aint get one month pay. The cheque come and the Chairman can’t sign the cheque and me get children to go to school. What will happen to my children,” one of the workers on the picket line said.
The CIIP workers holding placards, which read ‘No money. ‘No Work’ and ‘NDC Chairman must go’ demanded that they are paid before returning to work.
CIIP workers are paid $25,600 monthly. They are required to work sixteen days per month and four hours per day. The work entails cleaning drains, bushes and removing solid waste in some instances in the NDC area. “It hard for us we need money right now,” another worker said.
Meanwhile, the 15 other NDCs in the region which were in existence prior to the November Local Government Elections have been able to make payments to staff in January using the same signatories from the previous NDC.
All other NDCs do not have this problem since they continue with the previous signatories to the account until the ministry gives the letter of permission for the new set of signatories to be sent to the bank.
When the NDC Chairman asked some Councillors and the Vice Chairman of the NDC about the CIIP workers demonstration, they were directed to the senior regional official who they said is the main persons that orchestrated this matter to go beyond control.
“We are waiting on the letter from the Ministry of Communities because the REO is saying that they can’t give us the letter from the Ministry so that myself and the other person who is going to be signatures to the account, can sign the cheques,” NDC Chairman Anil Nandand said on Mondau.
However, the Chairman said following the picketing exercise he was able to get the Communities Ministry officials, who has promised to have the relevant letters issued on today. Nandand says before the end of to the end of the week the workers are expected to receive their January salaries.
