The Association of Resident Doctors, ARD, at Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital, Gusau in Zamfara has issued a one-week strike notice to the state government over unpaid salaries and alleged illegal deductions.
This was contained in a statement signed by the President and Secretary of the Association, Dr. Kareem Quadir, and Dr. Isa Malik, respectively, and made available to reporters in Gusau on Thursday.
The statement said, “This is to notify the management of Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital, Gusau that due to failure of the State Ministry of Finance to ratify the problem of salaries and shortfalls involving our deductions, we are embarking on a one-week warning strike starting from September 14, 2020, by 12 am.
“Since February 2020 to date, we noticed that some of our members were not receiving a salary while some were facing unexplained deductions and we observed that the number of the affected doctors is increasing every month.
“We visited the State Ministry of Finance, we have also met concerned personnel in the finance department of the hospital to address the problem as well as to refund the unpaid salary and deductions.
“The Association also pursued the management of the hospital to appeal to the Ministry of Finance.
“Unfortunately, instead of the problem to be addressed, the situation is getting worse as the number of affected doctors are increasing every month.
“If the problem is not addressed after seven days of warning strike, the association would have no other option than to embark on indefinite strike until all its demands are met.
“We hope that the problem would be resolved soon so that we can continue to perform our duties for the benefit of the people of the state.”
