MINISTER of Transport, Communication and Infrastructural Development Joel Biggie Matiza has outrightly refused to address Civil Aviation Authority (CAAZ) workers over their grievances, Zim Morning Post has learnt.
This comes after loud calls for dialogue by employees over issues of incapacitation for the past couple of months and CAAZ management is said to have eventually directed the matter to the ministry citing that the parent ministry had the panacea.
“Minister of Transport through his permanent secretary is refusing to address CAAZ employees. The issues that are supposed to be addressed are employees incapacitated, CAAZ has no board for a long period and employees welfare.”
“CAAZ management is saying that the Ministry has the answers,” said our source.
CAAZ workers have been carrying foul over the management’s failure to review their salaries amid concerns that some of them are failing to commute to work and CAAZ has failed to improve the conditions of work.
The staff members are no longer capacitated to report for duty posing a threat to air travellers’ safety.
The management, acting Director General who is the substantive Human Resources and Administration Director, Margret Mantiziba and Ngwarai are said to have vowed not to consider issues of underpayment of wages and it is against this background that the matter was brought to Minister Matiza.
“The issues of underpayment of wages has not been addressed since a court ruling of more than 10 years ago instructed CAAZ to address the issue.”
“The current acting Director General who is the substantive Human Resources and Administration Director Margret Mantiziba together with Director of Air Navigation Blessing Ngwarai have vowed never to address the issue,” added the source.
Air Traffic controllers have been complaining that the operational environment and surveillance system equipment does not meet world’s best practice and it puts the flying public at risk.
“We are concerned as air traffic controllers with the increased danger to the flying public.
“There has been consistent failure and malfunction of the communication and surveillance system and general neglect of the operational environment,” said our inside source.
The air controllers have been threatening to stage a sit in against the poor and dangerous operational environment and also the need of an upward review of their salaries but Matiza is said to have refused to address them directly.
Both Matiza and his perm sec were not available at the time of writing.
