Hundreds of Palestinian Authority (PA) employees in Gaza on Wednesday took part in a protest over the delay in paying their monthly salaries.
The protesters raised banners expressing their rejection of the discrimination they are exposed to and demanding that Gaza employees be treated as equally as their colleagues in the West Bank.
Head of the Public Employees Syndicate in Gaza Aref Abu Jarad told Quds Press “Our message in this protest is clear. We reject the delay in our monthly payments. We all have commitments.”
Abu Jarad called on the Ramallah-based PA Ministry of Finance to issue an official statement explaining the reasons behind this delay so that Gaza employees be informed about their fate and to put an end to the rumors that started to spread in the Palestinian arena.
Employee Husam Salem 43 told Quds Press “It is inconceivable that we have not received our salaries until this day.”
“The government’s argument that the delay was due to technical reasons is illogical. It should tell us the truth especially that the next month is approaching and we still have no salaries.”
Gaza public employees who were appointed before 14th June 2007 and receive their salaries from the PA government are deeply worried and concerned about the unjustifiable delay in their monthly payments.
Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights has sent a letter to the PA government’s premier Rami Hamdallah asking him to pay the salaries of Gaza employees as soon as possible.
The PA Ministry of Finance issued a statement a week ago saying that the delay in paying the salaries of the PA employees is due to technical reasons but it did not explain why the decision affected Gaza employees alone.
The Ministry expressed hope that these obstacles will be overcome soon without giving further details.
