Coronavirus: Health workers in Juba Teaching Hospital decry salary delays

Lab technicians at the Public health laboratory in Juba (FILE Photo by David Mono Danga)

By Sheila Ponnie

Being a civil servant in South Sudan requires more than tolerance when it comes to wages. It’s now six months since government paid health workers in South Sudan received salaries.

Nurses and doctors at the Juba Teaching Hospital are complaining of the low wages that health workers receive amid the hiking prices of commodities in the market caused by the Coronavirus pandemic or COVID-19.

Averagely, a nurse at Juba Teaching Hospital gets between 3, 500SSP and 5,000 SSP this payment usually stays for over five months before one receives a one-month salary.

“Since February we have not received our salaries,” Nafisa Ladu Modi, one of the nurses at the hospital told The Insider.

“A kilo of meat costs 2,000 SSP yet the president and his deputies know that there’s a rise in prices. And it’s assumed that a special market for the poor will be established by the government to match our income,” she said.

 The pandemic has left most poverty-stricken families helpless due to the devastating economic impacts the virus has inflicted on the people.

Mrs. Modi said they lack most basic needs such as food and water. She says even coronavirus preventive gargets like hand sanitizers, soap and face-marks are lacking.

“Only God protects us,” the Modi said.

she urged government to increase civil servants’ salaries and pay them on time.

Another nurse who agreed to speak to The Insider on a condition of anonymity for fear of losing her job said that the delay wages has forced her to do extra casual jobs for survival. she said even if the wages come in time, it is too meagre to help her feed her children.

she said her expenses on daily transportation and communication goes way beyond her monthly wages that is why she has resorted to side jobs earn extra money.

“I am trying other ways to earn money to meet the needs of my childrens. I do additional work at night and in the evening hours to meet some of my daily expenditure and to feed my children.” told The Insider.

Last week, the Vice President for Cluster Service, Hussein Abdelbagi toured the hospital along with other key government officials.

During this tour the 5^th vice president said he is handicupped at the moment since he was only appointed to the seat in April this year but promises to do something about the poor health condition of the hospital and also promises to clear the accumulated salary arrears.

“I promise that the government, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, will solve the problem of late salaries and improve salaries with the Ministry of Health,” Abdelbagi said.

He also promised to renovate and replace old equipment at the hospital to ensure quality service delivery.

Abdelbagi said the government plans to employ more local medical personnel to be trained in managing any sophisticated equipment at the hospital.

“I reject the idea of bringing in employees from abroad to manage the building (Juba Teaching Hospital). All I want is for our own doctors to be trained and for them to carry out their work.” Abdelbagi said.