Sanitation workers under YEA to get 300% pay increase – Basintale

The Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), Malik Basintale, has announced plans to raise allowances for beneficiaries of the agency’s sanitation module by more than 300% under a new waste management agreement.

This move follows the suspension of YEA’s contract with Zoomlion Ghana Limited, which had been paying beneficiaries GH¢258 — an amount widely criticised as inadequate.

Addressing journalists after appearing before the Public Accounts Committee on Friday, August 22, 2025, Mr. Basintale said a committee has been tasked with reviewing tenders to select a new waste management service provider.

“When I took office, I swore by my late grandfather’s grave that no contract would be signed to pay GH¢258. That figure is unacceptable in this modern era. In any future contract, we will not go below the minimum wage. We are looking at more than a 300 percent increase,” he stressed.

He further revealed that about 5,000 beneficiaries who failed to report to their duty posts would forfeit two months of unpaid salaries.

“We have not discovered ghost names; what we found are individuals who were absent. Those at post have been validated, but those absent will lose two months’ pay.

“Beneficiaries who were validated can attest that their allowances have already been credited to their accounts,” he explained.