Chad: Trade union censures World Bank & Chad Govt.

Chad: Trade union censures both World Bank and Chadian government over oil revenue management

Brussels (ICFTU OnLine) The Union des Syndicats du Tchad (UST), an ICFTU affiliate, has issued a declaration in response to the World Bank's decision to suspend its programmes in the country following the government's revision of Law 001 guaranteeing, among other things, that part of the income from the oil industry be allocated to a fund for future generations.

The UST explains in the declaration that it would have been in agreement with the government had its revision of Law 001 been limited to extending its scope to the other oilfields and placing the Public Services and Labour Ministry among the priority sectors, given that job creation effectively contributes to reducing poverty. The labour organisation goes on to mark its total opposition to the suppression of the future generations fund and the inclusion of the Territorial Administration and Security Ministry among the priority sectors. It also underlines that the grounds invoked by the government to justify the revision are unfounded, insofar as corruption and the blatant mismanagement of public resources are among the main causes of the public finance deficit. This mismanagement also holds negative consequences for workers, such as the accumulation of arrears in the payment of wages and pensions.

The UST pointed out that the World Bank holds part of the responsibility, in the sense that it had endorsed the authorities' mismanagement of public resources. The UST and other civil society organisations had, in fact, drawn the World Bank's attention to the Deby regime's bad governance and mismanagement long before it approved the funding of the oil project.

To read the full declaration: http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991223367&Language=FR

The ICFTU represents 155 million workers in 236 affiliated organisations in 154 countries and territories. The ICFTU is also a partner in Global Unions: http://www.global-unions.org

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