Gov. Lalong is committed to sustain the new minimum wage to the end of his tenure - Mr Izam mni

Gov. Lalong is committed to sustain the new minimum wage to the end of his tenure - Mr Izam mni

The Plateau State Head of Service, Mr Izam Atang Azi mni in a Media Chat with a select Media Executives and Publishers of the NewsGate Magazine, the NewsCrest Newspaper, Jat HotNews Newspaper and News Parrot Newspaper assured that the Plateau State Government will strive to sustain the payment of the new minimum wage despite the lean financial position of the State while it is expected that workers should reciprocate Government's kind gestures with loyalty, dedication and commitment to duties. 

The Head of Service hinted that Government will ensure that the Local Government Council Staff also smile at the end of the day after meetings with NULGE,LGC Chairmen and ALGON.

Enjoy the Excerpts:

News Parrot: Congratulations Sir, we understand you have started paying Civil Servants in Plateau State the agreed minimum wage.How did you do this?

Mr Izam Atang Azi mni:Well, we had already signed the table for the implementation of the minimum wage in Plateau State which was to commence  in March 2020 but because of the Covid-19 pandemic,so it was not possible to commence. The Government even had to make a pronouncement on that about it's suspension but with the improvement in the situation where activities are beginning to pick up gradually,but because of the challenges everyone is facing, the Governor in his magnanimity approved that the payment for the new minimum wage should commence in October, 2020 with the October salaries. 

We have received some complaints by some of the Ministries, Departments, Agencies and the Labour Union as regards to some of the salary tables and implementation, but we are looking into that.

For the ICT Salary Automation,we will need the office of the Accountant General to swing into action.We are aware he is working on such complaints. 

I want to assure our workers that this complaints will be looked into and will be rectified so that no one will be short changed in the implementation of the minimum wage.

News Parrot: There was a complaint of a person who was supposed to receive N60,000 but got N6000 instead. Is it part of the problem?

Mr Izam Atang Azi mni: Yes, because this is a new salary structure and a new table had to come to replace the old one, so in the cause of the implementation,these problems were noticed,but they are not deliberate. 

We are working on the correction even though some of them will be corrected with the November 2020 Salaries, but for those yet to be paid,it will be with corrections in the new payment table.

News Parrot: With the economic challenges the country is facing, will the Governor be able to sustain the new minimum wage till the end of his tenure? Or will he skip payment just like the previous administrations?

Mr Izam Atang Azi mni: Well, we are not hoping for that to happen, but we hope to be able to sustain it till the end of the administration and beyond. The Government is also working very hard to improve the Internally Generated Revenue for the state, and that's where the Government needs the support of the worker's as regards to the IGR issue,which will mean sustaining payment of the salaries because we cannot be able to rely on the Federal Account Allocations with the global situation where fuel prices have not been stable. 

We want to see enhanced productivity from our workers here on the Plateau. We will strife to ensure that the minimum wage is maintained. Though it might be difficult even if it means keeping other projects aside.

News Parrot: We know that the third tier of Government,which is the Local Government, is not really part of the State Government but what is your office doing to ensure that the LG too also get their new minimum wage paid?

Mr Izam Atang Azi mni: At the LG level, the challenge has been that initially they were not getting the N18,000 minimum wage,they are now migrating from that level to 55%. So it is going to be a very big increase, so I believe with an understanding of the labor at that level and the LG Chairmen to the ALGON, we should be able to arrive at a concensus that will be beneficial to everyone.

We want the Local Government to  strive to be also be able to pay the minimum wage to its workers.

News Parrot: Sir, you talked about the State Government tightening its belt over the improvement of IGR in the state and as the Government is doing this,the properties destroyed in this protest was about N75bn, how will the Government cope with that amount of loss, the payments of the new minimum wage and the Local Government issues? How best do you think Government can address these issues?

Mr Izam Atang Azi mni: It is really unfortunate that we got ourselves into this situation where the government is trying to improve our infrastructure and all of a sudden criminals who  hide under the the #Endsars protest will destroy Government properties which belongs to everybody and the resources the Government will use for other projects will be channelled to repairing or building new infrastructure.  We need prayers. It is not only that of the Government because there are private businesses that were destroyed too, which invariably affects the state economy and also IGR where these private businesses cannot pay us taxes due to damage. It is a setback to the state. We pray God will see us through and help us to open other opportunities for Government to generate such revenues. We still have hope that things will be better.

News Parrot: What is your call to civil servants now that Government has done its part?  What does it expect from the civil servants?

Mr Izam Atang Azi mni: Let them also reciprocate the good gesture of Government by being committed and dedicated to their work. We know we have some challenges from the commencement but that should not discourage them because we are working hard to solve these problems. 

The Governor is trying and they are being paid as at when due and I want to say it will be sustained.All we want from our workers is loyalty, dedication and commitment to work.