POLICE Chief Mostyn Mangau has assured members of the public that there is no police front liner protest over unpaid Covid-19 allowances as reported in the media, Thursday.
He made this clarification to reporters yesterday at his weekly conference at Rove Police Headquarters.
“I want to assure the members of the public that there is no protest by our frontline officers over unpaid Covid-19 allowances,” Mangau said.
This paper reported that officers on the front line duties in the emergency zones from Poha River, West of Honiara, and Alligator Creek in East of Honiara are staging a “sit-in protest” after they were not paid their fortnight allowances without explanation.
Mangau said the government has dealt with this issue of unpaid allowance and will be sorting it out next week.
He thanked the concerned officers for their patience and understanding and to allow the responsible authorities to deal with the issue.
“The unpaid allowances will be paid next week.
“Responsible authorities will sort this out to ensure that our officers are paid.
“…….and RSIPF executive is working closely with other agencies and authorities to manage this issue of unpaid allowances,” Mangau added.
He further added that police have a big number of officers working in the front line than nurses and therefore, more time is needed for the Ministry of Finance to process the allowances.
“We have a total of 600 plus officers working in the emergency zones, at the border and here in Honiara,” he further added.
When asked by a journalist as to how many outstanding allowances were not yet paid, Mangau said it was only this fortnight’s allowance.
Mangau explained that there are two allowances, one is being paid monthly and another on a fortnightly basis.
He further explained that officers who are on border deployment and high-risk quarantine stations are paid monthly because they are deployed on a monthly basis.
“The other officers who provide support to the Covid-19 operation or the front line officers are paid on a fortnightly basis.
“The camp management paid police officers at the frontline according to the rate as other front line officers.”
Mangau also thanked officers who have committed themselves and work hard in the frontline duties in Honiara as well as on the western border and those assisting government officers in Honiara in the fight against Covid-19.
