By Moses Patience Chat
The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) has revealed plans to commence the recruitment of people living with disabilities into its workforce.
The Company said that it has made available all structures and modalities that will enable all disabled employees to work comfortably.
According to the Company, the employment of physically challenged persons into the organization was necessary in order to give equal and fair opportunities for people living with disabilities to succeed in society.
The Managing Director (MD) of PHED, Dr. Benson Uwheru, made this known at a Seminar and Awards Night in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, which was organized by the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) under the theme The Prospects and Challenges of the Labour Movement in the Electricity Industry.”
Uwheru, who was represented by the Chief Peoples Officer of PHED, Mr Micah Ledee, also said that the Company was rebranding and has commenced the promotion of staff, increased salaries, and also paid off over N46 million inherited debt from the previous administrations for staff exit entitlements.
In his own words, “we are putting up other policies, including employing employees with disabilities in the organization to be able to support the policy for diversity, equity and inclusion.
“PHED has been in the bad light, but presently we are rewriting the history with the face of new business, we are gradually redeeming that image by paying exited staff who left the organization over a period whose appointments were terminated through a kangaroo process and their entitlements not paid.
“We have been able to pay N46 million for exited staff between 2019 to 2022 and we are still doing more to close that gap. We are commencing pension arrears payment by next month and the value of pension not paid is very huge.
“The company at the moment is in consultation with the Federal Government expecting to clear off the back log we inherited and we are hoping that in months to come, everybody in the organization will receive the value of their pension.”