The disagreement between Rivers State Government and the
organised labour over the payment of the national minimum wage took another
dimension on Monday as the state government sealed off the state Secretariat of
the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
But the state government has said the sealing off of the
secretariat has nothing to do with the minimum wage issue but to carry out a
structural integrity evaluation of the building constructed and donated to the
congress by the state government.
Agents of the Rivers State Government last Sunday night
sealed off the state secretariat of the NLC located along Igboukwu Street,
D-Line, Port Harcourt.
Confirming the incident to journalists in Port Harcourt on
Monday, Chairman of the NLC r in the state, Beatrice Itubo, said the agents
claimed that they were from the state government.
Itubo stated that a letter sent to her via WhatsApp revealed
that those that sealed the secretariat were from the Special Projects
department of the state government.
She further stated that the locked up may not be connected
with the stand of the NLC on salaries on minimum wages and warned that no
intimidation can deterred the Labour from asking for the right and privileges
of workers, because the issue of minimum wage will be addressed.
But the state government said through the Special Adviser,
Special Projects and Head Bureau for Special Projects, Dakorinama George-Kelly,
said the sealing off of the NLC office has nothing to do with the minimum wage
controversy.
According to the statement, “The attention of the Bureau for Special
Projects have been drawn to a frivolous news milling the rounds that the NLC
secretariat of the Nigeria was sealed as a result of minimum wage related
issues. This is not only untrue, but also
a calculated attempt at misleading the public against the genuine intentions of
government.
As you may be aware, the NLC structure which was built pro
bono by the Rivers State Government for Labour was completed and commissioned
only a few months ago by the Bureau and it is our normal practice to carry out
general inspections and structural integrity evaluation or tests before the
expiration of the defects liability period. It is this activity that precedes
the release of the 5% retention fees due any contractor 6 months or 1 year upon
practical completion of the project. This is not new to every contractor or
client in the construction industry.
“In this case however, the contractor himself reported to
the Bureau a structural defect which must be immediately fixed to avoid further
deterioration/risks of incidents. The Bureau had to act expeditiously by giving
him a go-ahead to conduct a thorough structural integrity evaluation in liaison
with the Bureau’s in-house consultants; and of course this can only be done by
first sealing off the place, because the place cannot be in use while the exercise
is on.
“It is uncharitable and ungrateful for anyone under the
aegis of the NLC to misconstrue this exercise for a product of an imagined
imbroglio between labour and government. This is sad!
It is worthy to mention that the subject matter being
discussed was graciously provided for the union as a result the cordial relationship
that exists between labour and government and I’m not in doubt of the
continuity of that cordiality. The proponents of that outlandish news in our
own thinking can best be described as uncharitable, ungrateful and rebellious.
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