No pay for Hagen city employees

National, Normal
Source:

By JAMES APA GUMUNO

ABOUT 100 employees of the Mt Hagen city authority have not been paid for four pay periods.
This is because the city authority does not have the money to pay the workers.
Acting city manager Victor Megao said yesterday that the authority depended on taxes and fees collected from businesses and entities in the city to pay its bills, employees and meet other operational cost.
Mr Megao said many business houses have not paid their trading licence fees, land tax, sanitation and garbage fees for the year, resulting in the cash crunch.
He said the authority is owed about K1.2 million in outstanding fees for previous years.
Mr Megao appealed to the business houses in the city to pay up their bills so that that authority can pay its employees and meet other operational cost in order to keep the city clean and tidy.
He said the city needed a collective effort from all stakeholders to make the environment conducive for people from other provinces to come in and spend their money.
Mr Megao also stressed that  this would attract more investors into the province and create more employment opportunities for the local people.
He said despite going without pay, his employees continued to carry out their duties effectively
by maintaining the cleanliness of the city and helping police to minimise pick-pocketing and other petty crimes on the streets.
Mr Megao said they have some money in the bank carried forward from last year, and they will use it to pay wages for its employees once the accounts are open.