SOME ESWAMA WORKERS CALL ON STATE GOVERNMENT TO REGULARIZE THEIR EMPLOYMENT
Some worker
s at the Enugu State Waste Management Authority, ESWAMA have protested against the inability of the State Civil Service to regularize their employment.
The affected workers who were redeployed to other Ministries, Departments and Agencies in 2014 also alleged that they were being owed eighteen months salary arrears.
They made this known during a peaceful protest to Radio Nigeria Enugu premises.
The protesters carried placards with the inscriptions such as “Capture Us,” “Pay us our 18 months salary arrears,” “11 out of the 91 absorbed staff of ESWAMA into the Civil Service have died,” “our amiable Governor please save our souls”
One of them, Mr. Damian Ugwu, who narrated their order, noted that all efforts to get them captured proved abortive.
“We started going to the Civil Service Commission asking what have we done that make them not to capture us. So we went there not less than three times, we became confused. That is why we decided to go to Radio Nigeria, go to Head of Service and go to Government House to tell the Governor to consider us that we are dying in bondage.”
Also, Mr. Anthony Oragu and Mr. James Okafor appealed to the Enugu State Head of Service to look into their matter and pay them their entitlement.
“We the absorbed workers of Enugu State Waste Management Authority into various ministries, up till now we have not been captured since 2014, so we want the Head of Service to capture us and pay us 18 months of arrears of salary.
“We are here to beg government to tell Head of Service to capture us, since 2014 government took us into different ministries but up till now the Head of service has never absorbed us.”
Another protester, Mrs. Juliet Ashuika lamented the untold hardship being faced by her family as she was the bread winner.
“Since they said they put us in the ministries they didn’t capture us, they didn’t pay us. My children and I are living in hunger; none of my children go to school now. This has been a problem for me. I am the only one paying for house rent, electricity and all other payments, all this makes me think a lot.”
When Radio Nigeria visited the office of the Head of service Enugu State, Mr. Chidi Ezema, to get his reaction to the development, he was said to be away.
CHIDIMMA UJOH