/ 2 May 2007

Burundian govt workers receive Labour Day bonus

Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza awarded government workers a 34% pay rise as the small Central African nation celebrated Labour Day on Tuesday.

The increment was in line with economic growth the country recorded in the past year, Nkurunziza said in a televised speech late on Monday.

He said the government collected 96% of tax revenues last year compared with 88% in 2005, and international aid rose to $128-million from $40-million during the same period.

”We have therefore decided to award a 34% increase on basic salaries of all public-sector workers,” Nkurunziza said in the local Kirundi language.

About 60 000 workers will receive the pay rise with the exception of soldiers, police and magistrates who are not in the same category as other government employees, and whose salaries were tripled last year.

”We laud this remarkable effort, but it is not sufficient,” said Eulalie Nibizi, head of country’s largest trade union.

The basic salary of a government worker ranges between $25 and $40 per month.

”We ask the Labour Ministry to rapidly calculate the new salaries so they can take effect by July,” Nkurunziza said.

Burundi is slowly recovering from the aftermath of a 13-year-old civil war that devastated its economy and killed about 300 000 people. About two-thirds of its population of 7,6-million live in poverty. — Sapa-AFP