The Chairman of the Taraba State Environmental and Sanitation Agency, Illiya Kefas, has defended the reduction in allowances paid to street sweepers under the Operation Keep Taraba Clean programme.
The allowance, previously reduced from N20,000 to N15,000, was further cut to N10,000, sparking public concern over repeated salary adjustments since the scheme began in 2023.
Kefas initially told journalists that the latest reduction followed a directive from Governor Agbu Kefas. However, he later clarified that the decision was an internal administrative measure taken to sustain the agency’s operations amid rising workforce and operational costs.
He said the agency manages workers across Taraba’s 16 local government areas, including coordinators, supervisors, monitoring teams, and over 100 casual sanitation workers, all of whom require funding support.
According to him, the financial burden also includes monthly feeding costs and allowances for field teams engaged in sanitation duties, which exceed N5 million monthly.
He added that workers dissatisfied with the revised allowance were free to leave the programme.
The street sweeping initiative was introduced in 2023 with an initial monthly allowance of N20,000 before the first reduction in March 2024.
