Regional News of Friday, 16 July 2010

Source: GNA

Journalist appeals for early release of Single Spine Salary Structure

Koforidua, July 16, GNA - Ms Bertha Badu-Agyei, a Journalist, on Friday appealed to the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission and the Accountant General's Department to release the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) figures to the various organisations.

She said it was better for the organizations to receive the figures early to enable public servants to know their salaries before payment of salaries at the end of the month.

She explained that the early release of the figures could help effectively manage the expectations of workers and help reduce surprises and shocks.

Ms Badu-Agyei was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Koforidua on workers' expectation of the SSSS.

She said many workers had high expectations and were expecting huge sums of money at the end of the month to the extent that they were postponing the re-payment of their debts to the end of July when they hoped to receive their first salaries under the SSSS.

Ms Agnes Munyuhitum, also a Journalist, said many workers were anxiously waiting for the implementation of the SSSS by the end of July and it was important that all those engaged in the implementation of the scheme worked effectively to ensure that aspirations of workers were fulfilled.

She said workers within the public sector worked very hard but because they are not directly related to revenue generation, they are being poorly paid.

Ms Munyuhitum indicated that workers expected the new salary scheme to correct the anomaly and nothing should be done to disappoint them.

Mr Jonathan Amanor, a Teacher, said apart from the basic salary, teachers did not earn allowances like other workers within the public sector.

He said this often created a big deference in salaries between teachers and their colleagues in the public service with the same qualification.