A lawmaker has confirmed the approval of allowances for the Minister, Doctors and PhD Holders working at the Ministry against the wishes of many other specialists who emphasized that they were sidelined in the budget.
Hon. Ousman Sillah, National Assembly Select Committee Chairman for Health confirmed the approval of the allowances as indicated in the budget, revealing that that the allowances approval only applies to medical doctors and other specialists who have now been transferred to the ministry of health.
The Banjul North Member of National Assembly, declined to speak on why junior health workers and other specialists were left out in the approved allowances, arguing that “technicians at the ministry of health are the right people to reply to the enquiries.”
Scores of health officials who spoke to The Voice expressed their disappointment towards the Minister and his team of technocrat for sidelining the plight and conditions of many other health workers who have tirelessly worked for the ministry with dedication for many years, suggesting that the move will only demotivate the morale of many specialists and junior cadre health workers at the ministry of health.
One senior health expert who chooses to remain anonymous due to fear of punishment says that the approved allowances for the health minister, doctors working for the ministry and PhD holders without increasing that of other experts and junior health workers is at best discriminatory.
According to him, other experts and specialists including Public Health Specialists, Nursing and Midwifery Specialists, Environmental Health Specialists, Occupational Health Specialists, Medical Entomologists, Health Promotion specialist, Reproductive and Child Health Specialists, Epidemiologists, Laboratory Scientists, Pharmacists, Family Health Specialists, Health Financing Specialists, Health Planning Experts, Health Economic Experts and Health Research Specialists are all said to have been excluded from the allowance increments approved by the National Assembly.
“There are senior directors working in the Ministry of Health on grade 12 for many years but they are not covered in this proposed allowance package for Medical Doctors. There are many other specialists too working at the Ministry of Health but they are all excluded and why the segregation?” the sources rhetorically asked.
Another source closed to the Ministry revealed that the total amount of allowances for the Minister of health is now pegged at one hundred and fifteen thousand dalasi (D115, 000), disclosing that the allowances for PhD Holders, Consultants and other specialists have also been increased drastically.