Caterers under the School Feeding Programme have rejected the proposed GH1.20 increase.
Addressing a press conference on Sunday, the Minister of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Lariba Zuweira Abudu revealed talks to increase the cost of a meal per child are still ongoing adding that the proposal before it currently has an increase from GH¢1 to GH¢1.20.
But the proposed rise, according to the caterers, is insufficient and unacceptable.
Caterers have withdrawn their services since the reopening of schools, requesting that the government raise the daily amount per child and settle outstanding obligations.
The agitated caterers are demanding GH3.50 per child before calling it quits.
Dorothy Ofori Sarpong, the Ashanti Region caterers’ spokesperson, expressed unhappiness with the Minister’s reaction to their complaints.
“We are not going to cook, we are still on strike, though the Minister has spoken. What she came to say wasn’t to our satisfaction. The arrears that she claimed has been cleared with the exception of the 2022 third term are not so. There are arrears as far back as 2019, 2020, and 2021…so if she is saying all arrears have been paid, it is not so.
“With the amount of GH¢1.20 proposal, we are not going to agree. We cannot use this to cook any better food for the children, and so we pray that she goes back and come and tell us something better,” she said.
The Ashanti Region’s caterers’ leadership has also voiced discontent with the Gender Minister’s approach to addressing their problems.
The caterers want Madam Lariba to visit different districts to understand their members’ difficulties.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Lariba Zuweira Abudu, has assured that the caterers working under the School Feeding Programme will receive the 2022 academic year third term arrears due them next week.
She noted that the arrears for the first and second term have been settled adding that the payment process for the third term was delayed as a result of thorough validation and auditing processes to ensure the right funds are distributed to caterers.
“I want to ensure that the auditing and due diligence is done. It takes time because the numbers are voluminous so you need time for the auditors to go through and make sure that every caterer who has cooked has been captured and will be paid. They have to bear with us when their monies are not coming in good time. Certainly, we will pay them and next week we are paying,” she said.
