Workers in Bayelsa State have been assured by the state government that backlog of their salaries would be paid.
This assurance was given after a meeting between top government officials and labour leaders in the state, which was presided over by the Deputy Governor, Gboribiogha John Jonah.
Jonah disclosed that the state government was working assiduously to clear the debts, which also include money owed pensioners in the state.
In a communiqué issued on Monday, it was stated that organized labour was in support of the ongoing verification exercise, but stressed it should be done in a way that it will not affect genuine civil servants.
While labour appreciated the challenges of the government at meeting the salary obligations to its workers, it was resolved that, the Government should call Town Hall meetings with various ministries and agencies, with a view to explaining the current economic situation to the workers directly.
The meeting further resolved that, the Government should liaise with the local government councils and pay up outstanding salaries with the available funds, without further delay and hasten up the submission of LGA verification reports by the various committees.
On Internal Revenue Generation, it was noted that, the Government should improve on its IGR, without increasing Personal Income Tax to raise revenue to meet its financial obligations.
The communiqué also stated that, the Government should appeal to financial institutions in the State to relax their loan recovery mechanisms for the period, with regards to civil servants, in line with the Federal Government directive to the CBN to relax same on State governments and its workers on the bail-out.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Jonah expressed appreciation to labour for its disposition in respect of the current economic situation and appealed for more understanding.
Those that signed the communiqué on behalf of the State government were; Mrs Ebiowou Koku Obiyai, Member, Bayelsa State House of Assembly; Chief Serena Dokubo-Spiff, Secretary to the State Government; Dr. Peter Singabele, Head of Service; Hon. Jonathan Obuebite, Commissioner for Information and Orientation and Timipre Seipulo, Special Adviser, Treasury, Revenue and Accounts.
On the part of labour, it was endorsed by; Ndiomu John, Chairman, NLC, Bayelsa State; Dinepre Torukeregha, Secretary, NLC, Bayelsa; Dounana Tari, Chairman, TUC, Bayelsa and Save Nubani, Vice-Chairman, TUC, Bayelsa.
