THE Presidential Taskforce for NITEL and M-TEL, is set to begin verification of staff details in preparation for the payment of outstanding salaries and allowances.
In an interview with our reporter, a senior member of the taskforce, Sunday Alhassan, said the exercise would commence on Dec. 1, in 14 centres nationwide.
He added that after the verification process, accounts of affected workers would be credited once they must have signed their disengagement letters. Alhassan, who is also the President of the National Union of Postal and Telecommunication Employees (NUPTE), said the minister of finance had explained this clearly to members of the taskforce.
“We believe to some extent that there is sincerity on the part of the government to have committed itself to this particular arrangement. We want to use this opportunity to assure our members who have been so patient over the years that things will end well,’’ Alhassan added.
He noted that the workers had suffered a lot, and that many homes had been broken, children driven out of school while many of the workers had been rendered homeless as a result of the non-payment salaries and allowances.
Alhassan said the taskforce had recommended that 10 per cent of the entire workforce be retained to maintain the infrastructure, until the new owners, New Generation Telecommunication Consortium, takes charge.
President Goodluck Jonathan had last month directed the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to conclude the privatisation of Nitel and M-tel.
SIMEON OGOEGBULEM in Abuja, Nigeria
