By RODRICK DESURI 

Auki 

Public servants in Malaita Province were left frustrated yesterday in Auki when their salaries were not paid into their bank accounts.

About 50 nurses, many of whom travelled from the remote parts of Malaita to Auki were affected.

The public servants bank with Bank of the South Pacific (BSP).

In an interview, a concerned nurse who requested to be called George said that this is the first time they have experienced such a delay in their salary payments.

He said they only encountered payment delays during the ethnic crisis.

He said this has caused frustration and added to their burdens, such as borrowing money from fund agents or local businesses, and has brought hunger to their families at home.

“This is the first time we have ever encountered a delay in our payments. During the ethnic tension, we experienced delays with our payments on payday, but after that, we did not face such delays,” he said.

A statement from the government communications unit (GCU) yesterday explained that “technical issues with the new banking interface system delayed payroll payments for civil servants”.

GCU added that only customers of BSP were affected and not of the other banks, ANZ and BRED.

The salaries will be available in the BSP system today, the statement said.

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