Street sweepers lament quarter salary in Taraba

From Godwin Agia, Jalingo.

Taraba state newly recruited 600 street sweepers on Thursday, lamented what they described as quarter salary.

The street sweepers told journalists that governor Agbu Kefas failed to pay the N20,000 negotiated as their monthly salaries.

According to them, they received only N13,000 as their first salary instead of 20,000.

Our correspondent reports that, Mr. Illya Kefas, the coordinator, Taraba State Sanitation Agency had earlier told journalists that 600 youth and women, know as (Jalingo street sweepers), were engaged by the state governor under the supervision of the state sanitation agency to clean the Jalingo the state capital on a monthly allowance of N20,000.

“We were asked to go to the Taraba state sanitation agency’s office last week concerning our first salaries. We were both happy but to our greatest surprised, we were paid N13,000 cash, as against the negotiated N20,000.

“We were told by the agency that our monthly allowances would be N20,000 each. Aside that, we were supposed to be paid in the first week of July but it was until the third week of July that quarter salary was given to us without any explanation about the situation.

“We were threatened to either quite the job if we are not satisfy with the N13,000. Some of us have already borrowed to meet our family needs considering the expectation that the agreed N20,000 was going to be intact” The sweepers lamented.

Meanwhile, Mr Iliya Kefas, the coordinator, Taraba State Sanitation Agency, denied that there was no standing agreement  between government and the street sweepers concerning their monthly take-home.

“There was no agreement between government or the agency with the cleaners concerning their monthly take-home”.

However, Chief GT Kataps, Taraba state Secretary to the government of the state (SGS), said the amount approved for the sweepers monthly allowance was N15,000 and not N20,000 as being speculated.