General News of Sunday, 7 April 2013
Source: citifmonline
The striking University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has requested for government to pay its members from the Contingency Fund.
The Association has been on strike all week to protest unpaid arrears of 2012 salary.
Government had earlier stated it can only pay the arrears in installments.
It said UTAG cannot be given preferential treatment.
But speaking on Citi FM’s news analysis program, The Big Issue, Secretary of UTAG, Ato Yankson stated that the issue of the striking teachers ought to be regarded as urgent which need to be solved with the accompanying urgency.
“Government finds money when it becomes necessary to take care of what they call contingencies and emergencies and it is possible to put us in that category. Government should therefore look for the money and pay us,” he stated.
Mr. Yankson further stated, “Our members are not happy with the current situation. It is not the joy of any lecturer to decide not to teach but then when you get pushed sometimes you react.”
“We want the public to understand that UTAG has waited far too long to get the restoration done and the arrears paid. We want our money and government must pay us,” he added.