The Bayelsa government on Friday said that
ongoing public service reforms was to save the civil service from imminent collapse
due to unwieldy wage bill of about N4 bn monthly.
Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson Commissioner for
Information said on Friday in Yenagoa that the reforms were in overall public
interest.
Bayelsa government commenced
its plans to downsize its workforce and directed removal of 222 staff from its
radio station and newspaper in what it called ‘redeployment’.
According to a letter dated
Apri 6, 2018 signed by Zidafomo, addressed to General Manager of Bayelsa
Newspaper Corporation, Publishers of New Waves Newspapers and Radio Bayelsa 222
workers were listed as ‘excess workers.
Iworiso-Markson who spoke
against the backdrop of concerns by the affected staff and labour leaders,
allayed fears that they have been sacked adding that they would be trained
deployed to areas of need.
According to him, those
found unsuitable in the public service would be eased out with financial
assistance to start off their businesses.
It was gathered that a
committee set up by Gov Seriake Dickson on staffing and Funding of MDAs had
compiled the list of surplus staff which is being released in batches.
The letter directed the
management of the two media outlets to withhold and remit the April salaries of
affected workers to a special account at the Office of the Accountant General
of the State.
The Commissioner explained that the decision
to redeploy personnel in the public service identified to be redundant by
their supervisors to other agencies was in their best interest and that of the
public.
Iworiso-Markson noted that as painful as the
government's action was, the welfare of those affected has been taken into
consideration as the government was sensitive to the feeling of the people.
.
He said that the government had embarked on a
painstaking process of implementing the reforms with a view to pursuing it to a
logical conclusion.
He explained that the government was
resolute in its decision to redeploy the affected workers, because it would be
inimical to the interest of the state to sustain a process that would clog its
development.
He said that for instance, the state-owned
Radio Station had over 300 personnel, while its private radio stations operate
effectively with less than 12 personnel.
According to him, it was the decision of the government
to screen, train and redeploy workers with specialization in education to
schools since the state was in need of teachers.
While calling for more understanding, the
Information Commissioner disclosed that the reforms have thrown up some discoveries
which includes over 8,000 inherited appointments.
Iworiso-Markson explained that some family
members of deceased civil servants inherited their positions while irregular
appointments, arbitrary promotion and impersonations has led to the over bloated
wage bill which the government is gradually reducing.
The Commissioner explained that the withed
salaries of those pencilled out as excess staff would be released to them as
soon as their redeployment is concluded.
.
“The
exercise itself is still ongoing and the entire public service is aware. You
must note that the names of the people listed for redeployment are those
submitted as redundant workers by the general managers and supervisors.
"The general managers of the affected
MDAs were given the responsibility to fish out redundant personnel many
of who were employed under questionable circumstances.
“So Government is saying that this is not
sustainable. The onus is on government to bring them in, check their
qualifications and redeploy them to appropriate agencies.
“Anybody with B. ED for instance, would go to
the teachers training institute, trained and redeployed. Government would use
these people to teach,” Iworiso-Markson.
He also decried the selling of appointment
slots for N250,000 and other employment racketeering which is more rife in
local councils and parastatals and vowed that the government would no loger
condone same.
No comments:
Post a Comment