Dozens of street sweepers have protested the refusal of the Refuse Management and Sanitation Board (REMASAB) to pay their salaries in the last 10 months.
It was learnt that the street sweepers gathered at the headquarters of REMASAB, on Tuesday where they called on the managing director of the board, Alhaji Ahmad Danzago, to pay their salaries.
The protesters also complained about how dangerous their job is, narrating how some of them have been killed in the course of duty at different locations across Kano City.
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Some of the protesters spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of victimisation by officials of the REMASAB.
One of them said, “Well, concerning this issue, we pray that our salaries will be released, especially those of those who are working for the companies.
“These companies that employ us are in charge of keeping the highways and motorways of the state clean.
“We are pleading because among us there are people who have children, and those children are orphans, some of us are suffering for daily feeding, and some of us are being sent out of our homes because we are not able to afford the money for our house rents ,” he said.
“We are pleading with the governor (Abba Kabir Yusuf) and Dr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso to tackle this issue, and to make sure that our salaries are paid to us.
“We risk our lives to keep the state clean, and we have also lost a lot of lives among those of us sweeping the roads in the state,” he added.
According to him, “Abdullahi Gumel, lost his life at Murtala Muhammad Way Underpass; Malam Ado, Malam Rabi’u, also lost his life at Gadon Kaya Bridge; Fatima; and others are people who lost their lives while working for REMASAB.”.
He said the salaries owe them about 11 months, including those from the previous administration of Abdullahi Ganduje.
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Another street sweeper, who simply gave his name as Adamu, confirmed that the REMASAB management has not paid them for at least nine months.
“We were informed that the Governor of Kano State has given our employer Danzago our monthly salaries, and whenever we complain that we have not been paid, our employer Danzago holds programmes at radio stations informing the world that we have been paid, which is a lie,” he said.
“Therefore, the government and Danzago should pay us our hard-earned money, we are full-time employees, and we have been working since the tenure of Dr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.
“Today, we have come to collect our salaries from the committee that the governor urged to pay us our salaries, but the hypocrites in REMASAB informed Danzago that we have arrived, and now he has asked the security personnel to push us out,” he added.
“Dan Zago has not been fair to us. The Governor should please do something concerning this issue.”.
A third protester, a woman, said she was forced to take the sweeping job despite being 70 years old because her husband was disabled and could not provide for them.
“I am 70 years old, My husband can not work because he’s disabled, I am also among the road sweepers of Kano, We sleep the road from Mondays to Saturdays, the only day we have to rest is Sunday,”
“I am crying because we have not been paid. The government has given the money to our employers, but for the past 15 months, we haven’t received a penny from our salaries”, she said.
Another sweeper, Hauwa, said she came all the way from the Rijiyar Lemo area to the REMASAB office to demand her salary.
“My name is Hauwa, and I am a road sweeper. I sweep the roads of Rijiyar Lemo. We are here today at REMASAB because we have not been paid our monthly salaries for the past 11 months.
“We are being paid a sum of N10,000 monthly, the governor has provided our salaries, but our employer, Dan Zago, has yet to release it to us,” she alleged.
“My husband has died and my three children are orphans, we don’t have what to eat for days, and we have been sent out of our house because we were not able to pay for the rent. I had to borrow money before coming here today, and now I don’t have a penny to return home.
“Allah is our witness, no one has given us a penny out of our salary, although some of our fellow workers have received theirs, we have not,” she said.
According to her, “We are taking a huge risk while sweeping the road, mostly from vehicles and motorcycles.
“We are pleading to the governor to please give us a helping hand, we should be paid our salaries, please; we are begging him in the name of Allah to please do something.”.
(Daily News 24)