Paris Refund: Osun NMA Demands Payment Of Arrears, Outstanding Salaries
Osun State Branch of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has admonished the state government to consider the immediate payment of arrears of their outstanding salaries from the Paris Club Loan Refund and commence the payment of the Consolidated Medical Salary Scale to medical doctors in the state.
The association also called on the government to as a matter of urgency do everything to salvage the alleged dwindling fortunes of the healthcare delivery system, declaring that the continue decadence in the health sector and the poor treatment of health workers is deeply of serious concern to them.
The NMA in a statement issued by its chairman and secretary general, Dr. Tokunbo Olajumoke and Dr. Olalekan Ajayi respectively copies of which were made available to newsmen in Osogbo said that members of the Association had made enough sacrifices and that adequate attention should be pay to the healthcare delivery system in the state.
It said that the state government need to rearrange it’s priorities and suspend ‘capital flight’ as a result of financial “white elephant” projects executed by alien contractors and begin to focus on the payment of salaries accordingly.
The body argued that despite the enthusiasm of its members in the state to render health care services when the conditions of service delivery in our hospitals have gone from bad to worse, the government of Osun State have consistently incapacitated health workers by her vicious and unscrupulous remuneration policies.
The association said the state government is owing it’s members between 10 and 15 months salary arrears and prior to this they had worked for 8months without salaries in 2015 and following the release of the first bailout by the federal government, Osun State cut their salaries by over 50 percent without communicating them.
It maintained that members of the Association were not part of the decision that led to payment of modulated salaries adding that the term modulated salaries as a means of remuneration for civil servants is completely alien to the law and Association.
“At the commencement of the initial agitation for appropriate remuneration, our members met with the different hierarchies of government in the state and were given assurances that our demands will be met as soon as the financial situation of the state improves. With the rate of ongoing work on federal and state capital projects in the state, it is obvious that the finance of the state has significantly improved.
“The government of the day has been economical with the truth with regards to its total income and the fraction of its income that is being deployed towards the payment of salaries and other emoluments. How much of the first tranche of Paris Club Loan Refund was actually used to pay salaries?
“If health workers are to render essential services, what make their salaries non-essential? Some state governors who value the health of their citizens are already taking bold steps towards providing incentives for health professionals and ensuring an ideal working environment. We believe that our government needs to do likewise.
“We completely reject the suggestion that the sweat and blood and the hard earned salaries of our noble members will be diverted towards infrastructural development,” the association said.
