•Ministry accepts responsibility for paymentBennett Oghifo and Sunday Okobi
Visionscape Sanitations Solutions (VSS) has described the claim that it owes its staff salaries as false and unfounded
This is coming after a protest by the Community Sanitation Workers (CWS’s) at the Lagos State Government, Secretariat Alausa, Ikeja on Monday. The CWS’s claimed that they were owed salaries by the environmental firm.
But a statement issued yesterday by the CEO of VSS, John Irvine said: “Whilst we cannot ascertain the information that has been published, we can confirm that no Visionscape staff salaries have ever been compromised in any way.”
However, in following the latest development, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment has now stepped in and accepted the responsibility of paying the CSWs.
According to Irvine, in a statement, the Permanent Secretary for the Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr. Abiodun Bamgboye, had announced last Monday that there had been some anomalies in their payment system which had caused the delay in salary payments.
Irvine however said: “Visionscape would like to reiterate that there is no direct affiliation with the CSWs who form another component of the state’s waste management reforms. Visionscape is working closely with the Ministry of Environment to clear lines of communication so that claims and misconceptions (intended to detract from the hard work of residential collection and waste management infrastructure delivery) are stifled at source.”
The company further said all enquiries regarding the CSW’s should be directed to the Ministry of Environment/ Public Utility Monitoring Assurance Unit (PUMAU).
Irvine said the company continues to guarantee the complete safety and security of its employees with the highest levels of protection and equipment.
He said: “We remain committed to working with all stakeholders as we carry out our respective roles and responsibilities and will continue to support the Cleaner Lagos Initiative.” The statement further added that “as part of our core values and commitment to our staff and the state, we are constantly developing our safety procedures to enhance conditions for all Visionscape employees, and we take our responsibility to Lagosians seriously.
“We are confident that similar miscommunications will not reoccur, and we thank residents for their continuous understanding.”
