As Rivers State Workers continue to groan under the effect
of the recent deductions from their salaries by the state government, the Head
of Service (HOS), Barrister Samuel LongJohn has said that moves are on to
ameliorate the situation.

The HOS made the statement at the maiden meeting he held
with the staff of his office.

According to Barrister LongJohn, discussions are on-going
and something would be done to cushion the effects of the dedications.

The Tide reports that the deductions were in respect of
arrears of the social development levy from workers’ Salaries.

He charged the staff to be punctual and regular to work so
as to serve as a beacon to other civil servants.

The head of service, who promised to ensure improved working
conditions to enable them put in their best, reminded them of the consequences
of habitual lateness and absenteeism, which he said are acts of serious
misconduct, stressing that appropriate disciplinary measures would be meted out
to culprits in accordance with extant civil service rules.

He called for a change of attitude to work and warned
against delay in treating files, pointing out that such delays had adverse
effect on the smooth running of the civil service and had denied retirees of
getting their retirement benefits on time.

Barrister LongJohn said he would strive to ensure that
retirees receive their benefits as at when due, and advised the staff to
respect their seniors. He described the civil service as a chain in which
things are done in an orderly manner.

Responding to questions and comments from staff, the head of
service promised to provide incentives to workers to motivate them to improve
on their performance but added that such incentives would be subject to
availability of funds and the nature of the duties of the affected staff.

On training, Barrister LongJohn said while most of the
training would be done in-house, emphasis would be placed on computer literacy
to ensure that all civil servants are ICT compliant.

In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare,
Mr. Lambert Ekwueme pledged the support and loyalty of the entire staff in
order to move the service forward.