Protesting Workers Close Irrigation and Drilling Warehouses in Medani

Medani - Moatinoon

Workers at the General Authority for Irrigation and Drilling have closed the warehouses belonging to the authority in protest of their unpaid salaries for four months.

According to the demand-driven bodies assembly TAM, the authoritys management reneged on its commitment to pay the workers their salaries from last April until now. The management had obtained the workers approval to lease a portion of the authoritys warehouses, located in the city of Wad Medani, in order to use the proceeds to pay off the four-month delayed salaries so far. This proposal, presented by the Executive Committee of the Workers Union at the General Authority for Irrigation and Drilling, was approved by its Board of Directors and the Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources.

The management withdrew from its initial commitment to pay the delayed salaries and workers advances, announcing that it will only pay one months salary, despite receiving revenues from leasing the warehouses to DALL company and other commercial groups.

Protests by the workers at the authority have escalated since last Thursday when the director of the authority failed to convince the workers to accept and receive their April 2023 salary.

The situation reached its peak as around 750 workers closed the doors of the warehouses, and they threatened to stop work at the external stations.

This action poses a threat to the winter agricultural season, in addition to the repercussions of the war and the problems of financing agricultural operations.