By IHECHINYERE CHIGEMERI-UWOM

The Abia Government has expressed its resolve to commence a Pension Contributory Scheme for civil servants.

The Commissioner for Information and Culture, Mr Okey Kanu, made this known on Tuesday during a press briefing on the outcome of the State Executive Council Meeting at the Government House, Umuahia.

He said: “The state government has concluded plans to introduce a contributory pension scheme for Abia civil servants.

“The plans for establishing the scheme have gone very far and very soon we would start the cutover to a contributory pension scheme.”

Kanu expressed the readiness of the State Government to introduce measures that would make the payment of pension seamless and give pensioners a sense of belonging.

He said that the government had given a directive for all pensioners to be paid on the 28th of every month just like the civil servants in the state.

Kanu added that the government had directed that going forward, pensioners would be paid their monthly pension in full, as against half of the amount which used to be the case in the past.

He said that the government recently paid pensioners their pension arrears and noted that government was aware that some pensioners were not captured in the payment.

Kanu said that the Ministry of Finance had set up a help desk to address issues arising from the pension arrears payment such as persons whose names were skipped, among others.

According to him, the whole idea is to ensure that the whole process is smooth and successful.

Kanu also said that the government had approved the reconstruction of the 3.5-Kilometre Ekeakpara road which stretched from Osisioma Junction to Ekeakpara Market.

He said that the road would be rehabilitated with concrete drainage system to enhance the aesthetics and increase its lifespan.

Kanu disclosed that the plans and efforts were in top gear in preparation for the upcoming Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA) Medical Mission in the state.

He said that there had been a massive registration by prospective patients seeking to get medical attention during the exercise.

“The Ministry of Health and ANPA has slated to have about 200 patients undergo surgery, that number has now increased to about 350 patients because of the massive interest people have shown.

“The number of patients that are registered shows that it is going to be a very hectic period for those involved.

“This means that they will be carrying out surgeries on about 25 patients per day; that’s very huge by any stretch of imagination,” Kanu said. (NAN)

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