Nurses and midwives at the Lakes State government hospital in Rumbek have downed their tools over UNICEF’s failure to pay them for four months.
The work boycott started on Tuesday.
Monica Yar told Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday that all the departments were on a peaceful strike and that the hospital had been closed down.
“We have gone on strike because we have not been given our incentives for almost 4 months,” she said.
“Before UNICEF came in, the health pool fund used to pay us on monthly basis, but since they came in July, we began to experience a lot of challenges. We were only given the July incentive in September and you know we have children,” she added.
Yar said the children often wondered why they left home every morning for work yet they could not provide food.
James Salah Makoi said it had not been easy for the entire staff and they were asking UNICEF to settle their arrears for four months.
Dr Terran Madit Terran said they had called an emergency management meeting upon noticing the abnormal activities at the institution.
He said many issues were raised during the meeting.
“We knew that there was a problem because people had been reluctant and frustrated for long and the issue was all about the unpaid incentives.
“One of their demands is an incentive for four months, because since this project started, they only received for July in September,” he explained.
A registered midwife, James Salah Makoi, said the staff were on a peaceful strike, only demanding their incentives for four months.
“The whole hospital is closed down and the view of the staff is that once they are paid their incentives, they will resume work,” he said.