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Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Gov't owes airport guards, janitors P1M in back wages
AT LEAST 54 security guards and janitorial service crew of the Zamboanga City International Airport have not yet received their salaries for the last two months.
This was learned from Air Transportation Office Manager Celso Bayabos, who said that the two-month unpaid salary of the security guards and janitors could reach almost P1 million in back wages.
Bayabos blamed the problem on the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for delaying the release of funds to his office. He lamented that this has already demoralized the workers, especially this time of the Yuletide season when they most need money.
Bayabos disclosed that the DBM had appropriated P8000,000 for the Maintenance and Operating Expenses (MOE) for all the airports under Area 7 namely, the airports in Mapun, Cagayan de Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Sanga-Sanga, Jolo, Siocon, Ipil, Pagadian, Dipolog, Ozamis and Zamboanga.
"The meager fund is not enough to maintain and repair all these airports," Bayabos said, adding that his office consumes P130,000 in electric bill monthly and that the funds sent by DBM is very lacking.
Bayabos lamented the sorry-state of the city's runway, which has been partly dilapidated stretching to about 900 meters.
Bayabos said that he had already asked ATO central office in Manila for 200 pales of cold mix for the repair of several craters on the runway, but only 100 pales were approved and delivered, thus not enough to cover all the potholes.
He said that the DBM had allocated only P3 million for the repair and maintenance of all airports throughout the country.
He said that major repairs on any airport would be handled by the Department Of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), which is making it more difficult for the repair of the Zamboanga International Airport.
Bayabos said that the DBM had appropriated P2 million in 2002 for the repair of the Zamboanga airport but the money has not been released yet to date.
The ATO manager has called on the government to do something before the runway of the Zamboanga airport will totally deteriorate.
(December 28, 2005 issue)
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