BY STAFF REPORTER GOVERNMENT has said it will soon revive a civil servants loan facility to enable them to purchase vehicles and houses, as well as carry out other empowerment projects.
This was said last Wednesday in Parliament by Public Service deputy minister Lovemore Matuke after he was grilled by MPs over the duty-free vehicle scheme that government recently announced for civil servants.
MDC Alliance Proportional Representation MP Lwazi Sibanda had asked Matuke to explain to the National Assembly how government expected teachers to get money to import vehicles when they were not earning enough.
“Government has availed a loan facility for our civil servants. Recently it had dwindled because of inflation, and so there is now a plan to boost that fund so that those who want to buy vehicles may get loans from that fund. Government will also have a facility for buying houses. Government has availed a fund where they can get loans to buy vehicles, houses or any other project that they may want. Very soon that fund will be boosted,” Matuke said.
He was also asked to explain why government chose to say it would pay $20 000 fees for biological children of teachers, when some teachers could be guardians of non-biological children.
Matuke said the request to pay for three biological children was put forward by teachers’ unions.
“It was the unions which requested for that, maybe that is the long and short of it that it is not us (government) who requested that. The government agreed to pay for the biological children,” Matuke said.
Early this month, government awarded civil servants a 20% salary increase on the local currency salary component backdated to January 1, 2022.
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It also offered them US$100 per month in hard currency to be deducted from their local currency salary component, and offered to pay fees for up to three biological children per teaching family with an upper limit of $20 000 per child, and also offered other incentives like importation of duty-free vehicles.
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