|
No plans to raise salaries, says PM
2008-05-02 09:29:40
By Guardian Reporter, Iringa
Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda yesterday urged civil servants to spend their salaries more judiciously, noting that the government was without the capacity to pay them better any time soon.
Pinda, who was the chief guest at the climax of May Day celebrations held here at national level, admitted that civil service salaries were low relative to the demand for basic needs.
``It is true that what we`re getting is too small for comfort but how we spend the little we get is an equally important issue,`` he said, underscoring the need for frugality.
``We should make it a habit to avoid spending more than we actually get,`` advised the prime minister, stressing that there was little to beat disciplined spending.
He added that it was a matter of life and death for public servants to refrain from lavish spending on things like drinking sprees and promiscuous lifestyles.
Turning to persistent calls from workers for salary reviews, Pinda said: ``The government will continue working on ways to come up with better wage packages in accordance with the strength of its financial muscle.``
Commenting on the recent workers` strikes in the private sector, he explained that the best way to end workers’ conflicts was negotiations.
He said there would be little headway in the quest for workplace harmony in the absence of rapport and reconciliation between workers and their employers.
``There is plenty of room for negotiations and the government is ready to listen to workers’ grievances,`` he added.
Meanwhile, Trade Union Congress of Tanzania (Tucta) secretary general Nestory Ngulla lashed out at corrupt elements in the public service generally and the government in particular.
He said corruption was directly behind the government’s failure to deliver and meet workers’ demands for a better deal.
``It is not our intention to touch on all the cases of corruption witnessed in the country so far but we must say what is going on is awful, dangerous and disturbing,`` Ngulla pointed out.
He blamed grand corruption for the government`s failure to improve civil service salaries and other workers` benefits.
The Tucta boss, a long-serving trade unionist, also underlined the need for public servants to behave more responsibly by resolutely abiding by leadership ethics as articulated in the 1967 Arusha Declaration.
Noting that the escalating incidence of corruption was the major factor explaining the miserable lives civil servants in the country were leading, he called on the government to work on Tucta`s recommendation that the minimum wage stand at no less than 315,000/-.
|
