Front liners who deal with Covid-19 swab tests for incoming passengers and outgoing passengers both in the international and domestic levels are working without any Covid-19 allowances since September of 2021, it was claimed.
Speaking to Solomon Star Auki in an exclusive interview on Tuesday front liners who requested their identity to remain anonymous said the responsible authority has been keeping them in the dark regarding their covid-19 at least for the past seven months.
Over 50 front liners which consisted of swabbers, contact tracers, and communication team who played a crucial role in gathering vital information regarding covid-19 status of citizens and non-citizens who travel in and out of the country and those travelling domestically are now frustrated over the slowness and lack of progress in facilitating their covid-19 allowances.
“We work early and finish late at night.
“To make matters worse, we were also fed with poor meals which were low in both quantity and quality, but decided to keep silent about it to this day.
“Seven months have gone and nothing seems to go our way so we decided to come out publicly to voice our concern regarding our welfare.
“Information that our leaders disseminated on radio talk back shows came from us front liners.
“We are the ones who collected those data, which they proudly said on the ratio talk back shows, yet they neglected us like we are nothing in this fight against covid-19.
“We play an equally important role in the fight against covid-19 in ensuring covid-19 information disseminated are factual and accurate.
“Least we forget that we also have families to feed, we would be happy if the responsible authority at least give us a bag of rice each week to keep us going.
“Knowing others still have access to covid-19 allowance while we are kept in the dark regarding ours is an insult to our commitment in the fight against covid-19,” the workers said.
Regardless of the fact they are missing out on covid-19 allowances, those frontlines promised they will faithfully do their job and hope the responsible ministry will do its part by living up to its promise by paying up their long overdue covid-19 allowances.
By WILSON SAENI
Auki News Bureau
