Over 200 workers of Enugu State Ministry of Environment took to the streets of Enugu, the State capital Tuesday, to protest non payment of 7 months salary by the State government. The street cleaners who are on a salary of N7,000(Seven Thousand Naira) only monthly were aggrieved that the government was owing them salaries from June to December of last year and no efforts were made to effect arrears of payment. The workers also lamented the monthly deduction of N80.00 from their salaries for reasons not clear to them.

When Drum news online spoke with the protesting workers near the defunct Presidential Hotel, Enugu, one of the  protesters, Nkiruka(not real name) said that the government has been owing their salaries for 7 months and that it was becoming clear that no efforts were being made to pay them, instead, the payroll staff were busy altering the months on their payslips. She said that they were marching to the NTA, Government House and the State House of Assembly to register their protest.

Another of the protesters said that the government transferred their services to Enugu State Waste Management Authority, ENSWAMA and has not done anything about their salary arrears and wondered how they could be sweeping the streets on empty stomachs. She expressed displeasure that all their efforts to help the incumbent administration of Chief Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi keep Enugu clean, were not being appreciated.

Efforts to speak with the office of the ENSWAMA chief Executive, Mrs Amaka Anajemba, did not yield any dividend as she was said not to be in the office. No staff volunteered information on the plight of the street sweepers. Will the State Governor come to their aid? That’s the question on the lips of Enugu residents who watched them marching major streets of Enugu.