The Edo State Government has commenced the payment of arrears due to pensioners in the state.
Permanent Secretary and Chairman, Pension Bureau, Mr. I.D.S. Juwobor, who disclosed this in Benin, said that the payment of arrears due pensioners in Batch 47 started on February 14.
“All the 269 pensioners in Batch 47, who were physically present for the screening, have been receiving their money since Thursday February 14, 2019.
“This batch has the highest number of pensioners that we have attended to. We also paid 21 other pensioners that we classified as ‘spillovers’ from Batches 37-46 and five Diaspora pensioners after interviewing them remotely via Skype call,” he said.
Juwobor explained that the pension bureau had adopted best practice in line with the ongoing reforms across all government institutions in the state.
He further said that the pension bureau had paid over N376 million to the pensioners so far screened.
Meanwhile, Governor Godwin Obaseki has revealed plans by his administration to spend N2 billion in procuring furniture for primary schools across the state.
The governor said this during an inspection of remodelling work at the Government Science and Technical College, GSTC, formerly known as the Benin Technical College, in Benin-City.
READ ALSO: Robbers shoot police officer on guard duty, escape with rifle
During the visit, Obaseki inspected furniture produced by students of the vocational arm of GSTC, noting that the state government intends to provide furniture for about 150,000 pupils in public primary schools across the state.
He said that based on the quality of furniture made by the GSTC students, the school would make a substantial share of furniture for use in schools in the state.
“One of the reasons I came here was to see the quality of work the students are doing and their capacity to produce. What I have seen here is much better than what we are importing from China. If substantial part of the furniture is done by this school, much revenue would accrue to the school,” he said.
Obaseki said his administration was looking at redesigning the structures in primary schools to allow for better ventilation and cooling system, adding.
“One of the challenges we have in our schools is heat. So, if we are able to work with the contractor, handling the insulator roofing system in GSTC, we can redesign our primary schools such that there is enough natural cooling and ventilation in our schools,” he added.
The governor, who interacted with graduates of the college, undergoing practical training at the construction site, expressed satisfaction with the progress of work.
According to him, the state government is working with the World Bank and the Federal Ministry of Education to access a facility that would be used to promote technical education in the state.
