Aggrieved medical doctors working in Bayelsa State-owned hospitals have rejected the state government’s decision to pay N7,500 as hazard allowance to frontline doctors engaged in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
Dr Peter Alabrah, the state chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), said on Thursday that the congress of the NMA expressed dissatisfaction with the amount and directed members to embark on total strike.
He insisted that the strike, which resumed on Monday after it was suspended in June, would continue for as long as the government refused to address the demands of the doctors.
Alabrah said the striking doctors and the government had not reached any form of agreement in a bid to resolve the crisis.
He said, “These issues include improper placement of doctors in Bayelsa State, payment of COVID-19 hazard allowance and special wages to the members of the NMA, and then the payment of rural allowance to the consultants that work in the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri.
“Despite several agreements on the payment of doctors in Bayelsa State, the government is yet to regularise it.
“On the payment of COVID-19 special allowance, the government initially maintained that they are going to pay only N7,500 and our congress rejected it and directed that we proceed on indefinite and total strike.
“Since we started this strike, no meeting has been called by the government.”
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