Workers of the Emergency
Medical Services (EMS) of the ministry of health have issued a 14-day ultimatum
to the Rivers State Government (RSG) to pay them their over 10 months salary
arrears or face a shutdown of the health facilities in the state.
This was contained in a
statement signed by some of the workers.
The emergency medical
service workers also want the RSG to regularise their appointment having worked
for four years without formal employment.
A spokesman of the
emergency medical services workers, Orwell Wali, said they were facing hard
times as a result of nonpayment of their salaries.
He said: “we have been
having series of meeting with our director and the permanent secretary Rivers
State Ministry of Health and they promised that the governor had already
approved the EMS and would work with them. They said that they would meet with
us in few months and since then till date we have not heard anything from them.
The situation on ground with us is that we have a lot of people working with us
married and unmarried with children and no salary. Many of us have been pushed
out of our houses and we don’t have where to stay.
“so we are calling on
the government to please help us and listen to our needs. We have endured so
much and no response. So we don’t want to keep it a secret again. We want to
let the government know that we have been working fervently well. The hospital,
the health centres and ever cases that we have been called on. Even on the sea
we also work on emergency.
“so now we have given
them 14 days and if 14 days elapses and the government do not adhere to our
pleas, we believe that we will go an
close the gate in BMH,” he added.
The EMS said they were
responsible for handling emergency cases such as accidents, disasters and
epidemic outbreaks including flood catastrophes.
“we work with 112 in
Rivers State and we also work with the health centres all over the state. The job
we do there is that when they call us, we have locations. Our ambulances are
numbered and we cover every location in Rivers State and when they call us and
we have any accident in a particular area they will call that number and we
will go there immediately and attend to that case. we have everything in our
ambulance, our first aids, we are paramedics. We are trained for it. We even
deliver pregnant women.
When contacted the
Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health, Dr Harry Agba said the issue was before
the State Governor, Nyesom Wike, for necessary action.
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