The entire veterinarian staff at the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary has not been paid since the beginning of 2018.
According to Tuoi Tre, the number of workers at the department has fallen from 97 to 87 in just a year. Ten employees resigned from their position at the end of 2017 as they had not been paid on time, and the resignations may not stop there.
A majority of staff at the department work in suburban districts of Saigon where residents still rear livestock like pigs, cattle and poultry. Their main duties are vaccinating animals and conducting disease prevention. However, these veterinarians told Tuoi Tre that they have yet to receive any paychecks for a whole year.
A representative from the department said that they have proposed a detailed plan on the matter to the municipal People’s Committee, while also suggesting the allocation of funds to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, which oversees the agency, but neither request has been approved.
Under the proposal, the Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health suggested that the salary for veterinarians should be VND1.3 million per employee per month, which is equivalent to a total of VND118.3 million every month for the agency, or over VND1.4 billion a year.
The urgent request was made because in 2018, the department had submitted all collected fees to the state budget, and were left without any money to pay staff or continue other department operations.
While the number of veterinarians at the department continues to drop, higher authorities have not come up with a specific way to resolve the problem. "Without the help of veterinarians with vaccinating cattle and supervising animal health, there is likely a high risk of diseases outbreak," one animal control officer told the newspaper.
[Photo via Bao Moi]
