COVID-19: Plateau begins payment of hazard allowance to frontline health workers

By Moses Mark

Arrangements have been concluded for payment of hazard allowance to frontline health workers on COVID-19 in the State, the Head of Civil Service in Plateau State, Mr Izam Azi, has said.

Azi made this known when officials of the Correspondent’s Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) paid him a courtesy visit in Jos on Tuesday.

He said that the Ministry of Finance in the state have been directed to work out the modalities of payment stating that as soon as everything was sorted out, the affected workers would soon start receiving payment.

“I want to state that fronline health workers in the state who have been working during the pandemic will soon start receiving their hazard allowance.

“The ministry of finance has been briefed and they are working out modalities of payment, as soon as that is done, frontline health workers should start receiving their pay,” he said.

Azi added that over 950 civil servants in the state have so far benefited from the federal Mortgage Bank Home Renovation Loan Scheme of the state government.

He said the loan had made some of the civil servants home owners as they used the funds to complete buildings while some have purchased land with theirs.

The service chief added that the state government would soon implement the minimum wage structure in the state, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic stalled its implementation owing to its impact on the economy.