Sellal: Zone allowance implementation not yet on agenda

Prime Minister, Abdelmalek Sellal said Thursday the implementation of the zone allowance for employees of Public Service was not on the agenda because of the financial implications affecting the State's financial balances and generating malfunctions in the wage system and the compensatory system of the public sector.
"For the time being, the implementation of the zone allowance will not be reviewed because of the financial impact it could result on the State's financial equilibrium after the increase in wages this measure would cause," Sellal stressed in a response read on his behalf by Minister of Relations with Parliament, Khelil Mahi, at a plenary session of the People's National Assembly (Lower House of Parliament), dedicated to response to oral questions.
He said that "wage increases induced by the revision of compensation will generate malfunctions in the system of salaries and allowances of the civil and public employees including those working in the south and the Highlands."
He also stressed that the reactivation of compensation, enshrined in a legal system frozen since 1989, "is not necessary as there is a similar payment system established under the legal system in 1995," noting that "the benefits system issue in the South and Highlands was reviewed by an ad hoc committee."
In this regard, Sellal said the government, as part of its action plan, "works for making an overall assessment of the allowance system for the South and the Central Highlands in order to preserve its compliance and consistency with the general allowance system and serve the objectives of its creation."