Beneficiaries whose three months salaries surpass FCFA 100,000 will get the rest next month.

Finance Minister, Alamine Ousmane Mey says government is working out ways of taking the second phase of payments of severance allowances of ex-workers of defunct State corporations to the regional levels. The concerned people will be classified according to their regions and paid as such.

So far, government has disbursed FCFA 1.5 billion for the first phase and for now, 5,000 ex-workers have been enlisted and are being paid by four financial institutions (UBA, ECOBANK, BICEC Centrale and SCB 20th May Boulevard, all in Yaounde.) Some 5,000 others will be enlisted for payment in the hours ahead.

The Operation Proper

Speaking during a press briefing yesterday September 19, Alamine Ousmane Mey said the 1980 economic and financial crises forced government to liquidate some State corporations, obliging some to close down and others to reduce their staff strengths. Those who lost their jobs in due course have been paid their social dues and ongoing payments are severance allowances to help them reconvert into other activities. Government, the Minister said, prepared the ongoing payments in a participatory manner (the administration and representatives of the concerned workers.)

How it is Calculated?

Concerned people are expected to be given an equivalence of three months of their salaries when they were laid off or when their companies closed down. Those whose amounts are below FCFA 100,000 are being given the whole amount during the ongoing first phase.

Meanwhile, those whose three months salaries are above that amount will get a totality of the money next month. The Minister disclosed that the whole operation has been evaluated at FCFA 6.7 billion and with FCFA 1.5 billion already disbursed for the first phase, FCFA 5.2 billion will be put at the disposal of the banks to carry out the second phase of the payment.

What About Complaints?

The Finance Minister disclosed that companies whose staff were not counted for the operation or potential beneficiaries not counted could submit complaints at the Department of General Affairs of the Ministry of Finance for examination and eventual payment. The whole operation, he stressed, is free of charge and any beneficiary should not be dubbed into paying any amount whatsoever anywhere and to whomever in the name of the payments.

Accompanying Measures

Given the ages of the people concerned, Minister Alamine Ousmane Mey said government has taken measures to get tents, chairs and water to keep the beneficiaries at ease as they take the money. Medical services, he noted, are also solicited to take care of health problems that may arise.