Some cleaners who work for the Kano State Refuse Management and Sanitation Board (REMASAB) have decried withholding their salaries for 10 consecutive months by the agency.
The staff that primarily sweep Kano City streets had protested at the REMASAB Office in Kano demanding the managing director of the board, Alhaji Ahmadu Haruna Zago, to pay their withheld salaries.
According to the protesters, the harzadous nature of their job deserves better treatment as some of their colleagues died in the course of duty at different locations in the City.
“We are pleading because among us are people who have orphaned children. Some of us are suffering to feed daily, and some of us are being sent out of our homes because we can’t afford our house rents ,” one of the protesters spoke on condition of anonymity.
“We risk our lives to keep the state clean. We have also lost a lot of our members in the situation,” he added.
According to him, “Abdullahi Gumel, lost his life at Murtala Muhammad Way Underpass; Malam Ado, Malam Rabi’u, also lost his life at Gadon Kaya Bridge; Fatima; and others are people who lost their lives while working for REMASAB.”.
He said they owe 11 months salaries, including from the previous Ganduje administration.
Another cleaner, who identified as simply Adamu, said, “we heard that the State Governor has given our employer Danzago our monthly salaries. And whenever we complain about our pay, Danzago holds programmes at radio stations to say he has cleared us,” he said.
A protester who Self-identied as a 70-year old widow, said that she was forced to work as a necessity.
“I am 70 years old and I work because my husband can not work because he’s physically challenged. We sweep the road from Mondays to Saturdays,” she said.
“I am crying because we have not been paid. In the past 15 months, i haven’t received a penny from as my salary”, she said.
Another Malama Hauwa from Rijiyar Lemo area said she’s owed 11 months salaries and she remained committed to her work.
“We are being paid a sum of N10,000 monthly, we heard the governor has provided our salaries, but our employer, Dan Zago, has yet to release it to us,” she alleged.
“ As a widow, I have three orphans I am taking care of. But I don’t have what to eat for days. I have been sent out of our house because I can not pay for the rent.
“Allah is our witness, no one has given us a penny out of our salary, although some of our fellow workers have received theirs, we have not,” she said.
“We are pleading to the governor to please give us a helping hand. They should do something about our plight, in the name of Allah”.
“Today, we have come to collect our salaries from the committee that the Governor urged to pay us our salaries, but some people in REMASAB informed Danzago that we have arrived, and now he has asked the security personnel to push us out,” another protester alleged.
“The government and Danzago should pay us our hard-earned money, we are full-time employees, and we have been working since the tenure of Dr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso,” he emphasized.
However, when contacted, REMASAB Managing Director, Alh. Ahmadu Haruna Zago told WikkiTimes that the protesters are not staff of REMASAB as the Agency has paid its employees up to September and they are working to settle the remaining months.
Alh. Zago contended that during the past administration the Agency was scrapped and it was succeeded by a company before Gov. Yusuf reconstituted it back.
“They are not our employees. But our employees that we reengaged, we paid them some months and they have a few months with us which we will settle them. The agency itself is less than 10 months, ” he said.
“We recalled all former staff of REMASAB and screened them after the Governor reconstituted us to clear refuse in the state. We did head counting and asked for their bank statement of account.Out of 2400 who had been working since 2006, we confirmed 1082 staff. And those who scaled, we paid them June, July, August and September. Others that had been engaged by companies when REMSAB was scrapped, we told them we have no business with them. The companies that employed them had completed business with them.”
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