The Delta State government says it has committed N1.1 billion monthly to paying retired civil servants their pensions.

During a press briefing on Friday, the state Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu, said the pension funds were channelled to the retirees under the old pension scheme and the contributory pension scheme.

He said grants were also given to the local government councils to enable them to settle their workers’ pensions.

The commissioner said despite the state government’s efforts and commitment to tackling the pension issues, a certain group of LGA workers had been sponsored by the opposition to protest against non-payment of outstanding pensions.

He said that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa-led government has planned to give N10 billion to the LGAs to defray the backlog of the pensions.

The commissioner also disclosed that the state government had started enrolling more than 25,000 flood victims into the state health insurance sheme.

Mr Aniagwu, in the company of Ben Nkechika, director-general of the Delta State Contributory Health Commission, said this would enable them to access free medical care.

On the enrolment of the flood victims, the commissioner said it was not to achieve political points but to ensure that the victims accessed free healthcare services.

Mr Aniagwu said that Okowa had gone around the camps to provide relief materials, “but the governor believes that man does not live by bread alone “.

“By the time they (flood victims) leave this camp, it is possible for them to take care of their healthcare needs. These are persons that are rich, and government needs to meet them halfway.

“When they go back to their homes, there will be challenges of rebuilding their homes.

“Government will not be in a position to do a number of things for them. But Okowa has said health is wealth, there is a need to be healthy for them to begin to engage in other things,“ he said.

On his part, Mr Nkechika said the health insurance scheme, which started in January 2017, had no fewer than 1.2 million enrollees in 500 healthcare facilities across the state.

He said the premium was free for the flood victims, adding that the resources used to defray their premium were from the federal and state government.

(NAN)