MURREE, Dec 22:  Employees of union council Murree Town have not been paid salaries for the last five months, Dawn has learnt. There are fifteen union councils of Murree, employing around 75 employees, who are mostly low paid workers, working as secretaries, naib qasads and janitors.

Similarly, the employees of Town Municipal Administration (TMA) Murree were also not paid salaries for two months. Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif had taken notice of the situation, during his recent visit to Murree, ordering the timely payment of TMA employees but his orders have not been implemented as yet.

When Town Officer Revenue (TOR), Mohammad Arbab was contacted regarding the delay in payments, he admitted that salaries have not been paid on time, adding, however, that Punjab government has released grants for six union councils and very soon the rest would be provided with the funds as well.

But the TOR failed to answer as to how the poor workers would manage to make ends meet, for five months without taking any salary home.

President of PML-N lawyers’ wing, Murree chapter, Amjad Abbasi, appealed to chief minister Punjab to pay adequate attention to the matter in order to ensure that poor workers get paid their outstanding dues.

He also emphasised for the establishment of a proper system, so that such episodes do not get repeated.