By Bida Elly David
Workers at the Transitional National Legislative Assembly were yesterday discontented with the petty cash incentives of 6,500 SSP paid to each and every staff by the National Assembly as a mechanism to solve their grievances.
This development came after the leadership of the Parliament had reached a consensus with the staff promising to handle their incentives problems resulting into payment of less money.
On Monday this week, employees and supporting staff in the Transitional National Legislative Assembly went on a peaceful strike laying down their tools over delayed remuneration that would have aided their standard of living.
Speaking to No.1. Citizen Daily Newspaper yesterday, Hon. Peter Lomude a lawmaker at the National Parliament said despite resuming back to their daily routine, there were conflict of thoughts as majority of staff in the Parliament were discontented with the petty cash of 6,500 South Sudanese Pounds received.
“It is true that the employees and the supporting staff at the August House have all resumed their daily work after reaching into consensus with the house. The staff truly have taken so far 5-6 Months without receiving their salaries yet they have responsibilities at their homes. Although they have received their incentives, they are not contented and happy since the money received can’t solve their demands’’ Lomude underscored.
“What has been given to the staff in the August House as incentive is not really enough. It is a reality that our country has faced many problems related to economy. You will see that government’s employees go several months without getting salaries. I really pity these staff as a member of Parliament since they have been committed to work. Every morning you find them cleaning and doing other things. I am urging the government to work on that’’ he appealed.
Lomude stressed that what the workers get as salaries does not match with the prevailing situation in the market.
“I was one of the members who advocated that before the members of the parliament could look into the issues of the emoluments, they should first look into the issues of the salaries for the civil servants and the organised forces’’ he lamented.
However, Lomude emphasized that there was much need for the August house to put into consideration measures of improving staff remuneration policies to mitigate their standard of living.
“The parliament needs to put measures of how to rescue our staff from financial burden since they have children to send to school. The issue of disregarding the voices of supporting staff is one way of not valuing their work’’ he pointed