RIVERS WORRIES OVER NON-RELEASE OF GROUNDED AIRCRAFT

THE Rivers State government said irrespective of the House of Representatives report authenticating it’s ownership of the State’s bombardier jet, aviation authorities continue to ground the aircraft.

The state government has also denied allegation that it intends to slash the salaries of workers in the state-owned tertiary institutions.

The Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, explained that weeks after the House Joint Committee on Justice and Aviation interaction with both authorities in the aviation sector and the Rivers State government officials, both the Ministry of Aviation and Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) are yet to grant the state aircraft the petition it requires for flying once again.

“We were told that there was some penalty and we were waiting to be told what penalty is so that we can make payment as appropriate so that the aircraft can be released.

“We are yet to be briefed appropriately by the relevant authorities. We have tried to engage them and at the last engagement, we were told to go and wait, that they would contact us when they have been directed to do so,” said Semenitari.

On the allegation that government plans to cut tertiary institution workers salaries, she explained that the office of the Head of Service (HoS) had uncovered that certain staffers in the two state-owned universities— University of Science and Technology and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt — were earning above their statutory pay.

“Here is what is happening. We had a situation where the head of service upon assumption, noticed some infractions and some inconsistencies where certain staff were earning beyond their statutory pay and this is not as in a group.

“That is you find specific individual. You may find one or two persons who have done some funny things, some dubious things and manipulated salaries over and beyond what is their statutory, what they should be earning,” she said.

The commissioner said some unscrupulous persons within the two universities system have over the years manipulated the salary vouchers through over bloated number of non-existent staff and in the process have been swindling the government.

She noted that irrespective of government’s inability to streamline the number of staff in these institutions, the amount it expended monthly, as salary had remained astronomically high.

And to ensure transparency, the government had invited officials of the institutions to submit a comprehensive list of all their staffers but to no avail.

Semenitari said following the failures of the universities to submit a comprehensive list of their staffers, the government has resolved that from next month, every worker in state-owned tertiary institutions would be paid directly by the Ministry of Finance.  According to her, the essence is to help government block leakages in the system.

Source: Guardian