POLICE Frontline Officers in the national public emergency zone and Nurses looking after COVID-19 positive cases at the National Referral Hospital (NRH) are urging the government to pay their various duty allowances before matters get out of hand.
“We are serious about this,” a police officer who spoke on anonymity told Solomon Star on Saturday.
The unnamed officer said there are two different allowances that the government has agreed to pay frontline police officers stationed in the emergency zone, which covers the area stretching from Alligator Creek east of Henderson International Airport and Poha River on the west.
“The government has agreed to pay each officer $500 a fortnight,” he said.
“Then there is another allowance of $400 a day effective from 28 August 2020. There are three groups that are entitled to this payment, according to a Memo from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Service,” the officer said.
“These groups are Border Deployment officers, Static Duties Officers and All International Arrivals, including repatriation flights, he said.
“We have not been paid this money since August. Now we have never asked for this allowance in the first. It was the government that offered it and we have accepted it. Our expectation is that it should be paid.”
He said police would continue with their silent sit-in protest until this is paid.
The officer said police have been advised in an email by the Commissioner of Police last Thursday that the allowances are being prepared and would be paid.
“Well, that’s well and good for the Commissioner to say but we want to see it. We are serious about this and before the situation gets out of hand, we urge the government to deal with our payment,” the officer said.
Meanwhile nurses guarding nine COVID-19 positive cases at isolation wards at the National Referral Hospital (NRH) have also complained about non-payment of their allowances.
“We were assured that the allowance of $500 a fortnight would be paid two days after deployment. This is now more than a week but we have not received any payment,” a nurse who requested anonymity, told Solomon Star last week.
“We are so stressed out about this because our families have told us they have run out of food and cash power credits. We are urging the government to please attend to our situation,” the nurse said.
The nurse said the prospect of spending another 14 days in quarantine without payment was impacting badly on the group of 24 that were assigned to Isolation Wards 1 and 2.
All we are asking is, please honour the assurances that our allowances would be paid two days after deployment.
The Ministry of Health and Medical Services could not be reached for comment last night.
By Alfred Sasako
Honiara Newsroom
