Mass Transit: Ex-NLC Boss Wants More Buses In Rivers

The erstwhile chairman
of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Rivers State Council, Comrade Chris Oruge, has appealed to the Rivers State government to donate some of the long buses packed at the government house car park to the body to fortify its mass transit programme in the state.
Oruge made the appeal in his address at the 11th state delegates conference of the congress held at Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt last week.
The former labour leader, who was of the view that the buses, when deployed for mass transit, would help boost the financial status of the union as well as ease transportation of members after official work period.
He thanked Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi for donating some buses to the union during his first tenure as Governor of the State, but recalled that the promise he made during the last May Day of directing the Head of Service, Barrister Samuel LongJohn to replace the older buses with new ones has not been fulfilled up to date.
“We plead with you to fulfil this promise before handing over to the new administration”, Oruge said, and also appealed to the state government to assist in building a befitting new secretariat for the union as promised since 2009.
According to him, although the state government had done a lot for its workers in terms of implementation of salary relativity and N18,000 minimum wage for being among the first states that implemented it, they are still worried over the workers’ salaries as it was not regular in recent times.
The comrade opined that it is disheartening that some workers in the state have received their March 2015 salary while some have not, and pleaded with the government to clear the payment as the non-payment is also affecting the check-off dues of some union activities, stressing that it should be paid before handing over to the incoming administration.
He lauded the cordial relationship existing between the government and the congress, including the moral and financial support, calling for tis sustainability.
It would be recalled that another parallel NLC in Rivers State also conducted their delegate’s conference in Port Harcourt last Thursday with Prince Addah Williams as their state chairman.

Collins Barasimeye