Insight Northeast Nigeria delivers breaking news, politics, health, finance, and entertainment from Northeast Nigeria and beyond. Trusted by readers in 150+ countries.
The Chairman of the Taraba State Environmental and Sanitation Agency, Mr Illiya Kefas, has defended the reduction of the monthly allowance of members of the Operation Keep Taraba Clean programme, popularly known as street sweepers, from N15,000 to N10,000.
Kefas said on Tuesday that the decision was an internal administrative measure aimed at sustaining the agency’s operations and was not a directive from Governor Agbu Kefas.
The clarification followed remarks he made on Monday suggesting that the reduction was linked to efforts to manage available resources after the recruitment of additional workers into the state and local government civil services.
Speaking with journalists in Jalingo, the agency chairman explained that the adjustment became necessary due to the agency’s growing workforce and increasing operational costs across the state’s 16 local government areas.
“The arrangement was an internal decision to sustain the activities of the agency and not a directive from the governor,” he said.
Kefas noted that the agency oversees a large workforce, including local government coordinators, supervisors, monitoring teams and more than 100 casual workers engaged in sanitation activities statewide.
According to him, the agency also incurs significant expenses on waste evacuation, daily sanitation operations and feeding of casual workers.
“We have 16 local government coordinators and supervisors across the state, while more than 100 casual staff are engaged in sanitation activities. These responsibilities require substantial financial commitments,” he said.
The chairman disclosed that the agency spends more than N5 million monthly on feeding casual workers deployed across the 16 local government areas.
He maintained that the agency’s financial obligations made the allowance adjustment unavoidable in order to sustain sanitation activities.
Kefas further attributed the financial pressure to limited allocations from the Federation Account and increased wage commitments arising from the recruitment of new civil servants in the state.
The Operation Keep Taraba Clean programme was introduced in 2023, with participants initially receiving a monthly allowance of N20,000.
The allowance was later reduced to N15,000 in March 2024 and subsequently to N10,000 in May 2026.
The chairman said the agency remained committed to maintaining environmental sanitation services despite prevailing financial constraints.
He added that efforts were ongoing to ensure effective waste management and environmental cleanliness across the state. (NAN)Headline: Taraba Sanitation Agency Explains Street Sweepers’ Pay Cut Amid Rising Costs
