Doctors not paid in three months

MANADO, North Sulawesi: Some 84 temporarily employed doctors and 578 temporarily employed midwives in Manado said on Monday they had not received their salaries for the last three months.

"We didn't receive our salaries from January to March. We don't know why this happened. Last year, it did not happen," a doctor, who asked not to be identified, said here on Monday.

He said the doctors and the midwives worked for public health agencies in Manado mayoralty and the regencies of Bitung, Minahasa, Bolaang Mongondow and Sangihe Talaud.

The head of North Sulawesi's health agency, Allan Umboh, confirmed that the doctors and midwives had not received their salaries over the past three months.

"The minister himself has admitted the late salaries. It's because there is too much bureaucracy involved in the disbursement of their salaries," he said, adding that the money to pay the doctors and midwives was transferred to the local administration's treasury and not to the health agency.

But he could not explain why there had never before been a problem in paying the doctors and midwives.

According to Allan, the doctors and midwifes were paid for April. --JP