KOHAT, Sept 4: The health staff of the Commissionerate of Afghan Refugees has threatened to go on indefinite strike against the 30 per cent cut announced by the government in their salaries.

Dr Javed Afridi, president of Afghan refugees health staff welfare association, NWFP, in a press release issued here on Thursday, said their directorate “today announced to cut the salary of 450 employees to bring it to the level of other health staff working in the government hospitals, which was a clear violation of the agreement signed with the UNHCR 22 years back.”

He said according to contract their services could be terminated at any time without any notice but there was no mention of the cut in salaries.

Dr Afridi requested NWFP Governor Lt-Gen Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah (retired) to decide their fate as to whether they were the employees of the Pakistan government or the UNHCR so that they could get pension or terminal benefits from the world organisation at the time of winding up of the health project for Afghan refugees which was expected by the end of year 2005.

He regretted that the employees of the commissionerate had been granted facilities of pension benefits whereas the health staff working under the same commissionerate had been denied such benefits.

After serving for 22 years under the health project for Afghan refugees, he said, all the 450 staff members had become overage and would not be eligible for any government job after 2005.

Denying them pension benefits would aggravate their woes, he said.