Environmental Health Officers who have remained jobless since 2021 have threatened to stage a protest unless the government grants them financial clearance for them to be employed.
Despite completing their one-year mandatory national service, these officers say they have encountered a deadlock in their attempts to secure postings from the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources.
Expressing their frustration to Citi News, Fred Awine, the General Secretary of the association, emphasized their determination to serve the nation, citing prolonged disregard from the government as the driving force behind their decision to protest if they are not employed.
“We have been in the house for about two to three years now and we have been following up all this while and the Head of Local Service, who is our employer, is not telling us anything. The Ministry of Water and Sanitation who has taken over the three schools of hygiene that are under the Ministry of Health, is also quiet, and we have been following up since 2021.
“What they tell us is that they are on it, yet still, we have been home for three years, and so we are planning to demonstrate in Tamale, if not this month, early next month.”
He also clarified their rejection of the ministry’s proposal to employ them under the Youth Employment Agency.
“They were going to recruit us under the Youth Employment agency like our brothers who are from the SHS and if that is the case, why don’t I just use my SHS certificate to apply for it because when you are paying me the same money as the SHS leaver, it doesn’t speak well.
“If I have paid fees and have been trained as an environmental officer and you are paying me the same as an SHS certificate holder, then you are belittling me.”
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