By Terna Chikpa
The Chairman of the Taraba State Environmental and Sanitation Agency, Hon. Illiya Kefas, has debunked reports circulating in the media that Governor Agbu Kefas directed the reduction of salaries of members of the Operation Keep Taraba Clean (street sweepers).
The chairman clarified that the decision was an internal arrangement by the agency aimed at sustaining its operations and was not a directive from the governor.
He explained that the agency had to balance its financial obligations due to the large number of casual workers engaged across the 16 local government areas of the state.
He also highlighted the agency’s financial commitments, including payments to local government coordinators, supervisors, monitoring teams, and casual workers engaged across the state.
“We have 16 local government coordinators, including those in Ngada and Yantu. We pay some of them ₦200,000, while the least paid receives ₦100,000. We also have a monitoring team.
“We have supervisors, and the least-paid among them earns ₦50,000 per month. There are 10 supervisors. In addition, we have more than 100 casual workers across the 16 local government areas. We spend over ₦5 million on feeding the workers engaged on a daily basis,” Hon. Illiya Kefas explained.
The agency chairman further disclosed that team leaders overseeing roadside cleaning operations receive daily allowances. He added that substantial resources are also expended on sanitation and waste evacuation activities across the state.