Waste disposal contractors in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are appealing to the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, to intervene in the resolution of seven months of outstanding payment arrears owed to over 300 workers across various area councils.
The contractors operating under the auspices of the Waste Disposal Contractors Forum held a press briefing yesterday to voice their concerns.
The forum leaders explained that their contracts began in April 2022 and are set for three years. They find themselves in an increasingly precarious situation as they near their assignments.
One of the leaders, Mr John Okafor, highlighted the urgency of the matter. “As of now, this is the seventh month running without payment. Waste management services are capital-intensive. We spend money on diesel, equipment service, salaries, and other logistics. Yet, we have not received any payment for the past seven months.
“We have written to the Honourable Minister but do not know where the issue lies. We have contacted the Satellite Town Development Department, our supervisory agency. Still, they keep saying they are on it, that the minister has not yet approved payment, which has put us in a very tight situation.
“We have documentation and photos proving our teams are on-site and actively working. If there are concerns about our performance, we are eager to clarify them.
“As of December, our workers across the six area councils were on us for payments. We were deeply pained because they had to celebrate the festivities without money. Our lenders have also stopped extending credit to us because they say we have not been able to repay as previously agreed,“ he said.
Okafor made a heartfelt appeal to Wike. “We beg the Honourable Minister to attend to our urgent plea graciously. This is for our sake and the over 300 workers who depend on these payments.”
Another leader, Alhaji Mohamed Bala, expressed the gravity of the situation. “Waste management is a pragmatic exercise; if we do not evacuate waste, it will accumulate. We have pictures and GPS data to verify our work from July until now.
“The scope of our work extends beyond routine waste collection. We are mandated to assist local governments that lack adequate waste management services. Yet we can not continue doing this without timely payments,“ he lamented.
Bala reiterated the contractors‘ commitment to their duties: “We are working actively across 23 locations in the six area councils. We are not waiting for local governments to take action; we are here as intervenors. But for local governments to leave all waste management duties to us is unfair.”
The contractors asserted their readiness to provide evidence of their work and locations to dispel any misinformation regarding the effectiveness of their services.
