EHP councillor queries MPs’ pay rise

ANOTHER ward councillor also wants to know why councillors have been excluded from getting a pay rise like the MPs although they were under the same mandated leadership role. 
Councillor and vice-president of Kamano No.2 rural LLG in Kainantu, Martin Agoname said he was unhappy that councillors were not getting a pay increase while their MP and LLG president colleagues were getting one.
“We were all elected under the same process to represent our people then why are we left out in the increase on representatives pays?” he said.
He said councillors were still being paid a K50 monthly allowance which is not even equivalent to the load or work they carry out in delivering services to their people.
“The government should have also increased our salaries to K250 or K300 per month,” he said.
Agoname said councilors can not survive on a monthly payment of K50 with the high cost of living.
“I feel that it is unfair because we live with the people’s needs every day while MPs are away in air-conditioned offices and not caring too much about the people,” he said.
 Agoname also said with the district service improvement programme funds (DSIP); the MPs get K10million quarterly while the councillors only receive K3,000 annually which is not much.