Accra, March 10, GNA - The National Service Scheme (NSS) Secretariat= on Wednesday announced that it had received approval for 17 per cent increas= e in the allowances for 2009/2010 service personnel. It said based on a letter received from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP), they were working to finalise the necessary administrative procedures to ensure implementation soon.

Mr. Ebenezer Edzii, Greater Accra Regional Director of NSS, announce= d this during the election of executives for the National Service Personnel=

Association (NASPA) in Accra Metropolis. Mr. Kwabena Osei Gyening, a Development Planning graduate of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and Service Personnel at the=

NSS Headquarters was elected President, with other four executives to ste= er the affairs of NASPA for the next five months. NASPA is the mouthpiece as well as welfare organisation of service personnel in the country and channels problems and challenges facing the personnel to the Secretariat for redress.

It has representations in the district, regional and national levels=

working to find solutions to the perennial problems such as accommodation=

for service personnel, delay in payment of allowances among others to ens= ure that service personnel received the best of treatment to enable them give=

off their best. Mr. Edzii, who could not give specific date for the implementation however, said payment of the new allowances would take retrospective effe= ct. The Secretariat in October last year announced a 17 per cent increas= e in allowance for 2009/2010 service personnel but delayed in the implementation due to non-availability of funds.

Currently, service personnel are paid GH¢144 as monthly allowance,= but some have described it as inadequate due to the high cost of living in th= e country. Mr. Edzii said though the allowance might not be enough, that was wh= at the Secretariat could offer and pledged its commitment to the welfare of the personnel.

He advised service personnel to remain patient as the Secretariat worked to finalise the processing for the implementation of the increase. Mr. Gyening pledged to work towards improving their conditions in th= e metropolis.

He urged service personnel to subscribe to a new social networking platform of the NSS on FACEBOOK, to receive timely information on their activities aimed at addressing their challenges and lodge their complaint= s through the same platform.