Harare (New Ziana) –The government should prioritise initiatives to revive the Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) for civil servants to access vital medical services.
PSMAS, whose membership comprises mostly civil servants, runs a medical insurance scheme and has other health-related subsidiaries including dental and optometry.
It used to operate clinics and hospitals around the country serving nearly one million members, mostly government workers.
David Dzatsunga, secretary general of the Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (ZCPSTU) told New Ziana that the government was not prioritising the revival of PSMAS, which currently does not have a board of directors.
“PSMAS does not have a board. Imagine we have people collecting millions of dollars without oversight. It is not the kind of organisation that can operate without a board but that has been happening for a year now.
“There should be restoration of the governance structure,” he said.
Dzatsunga said the government had refused to put the PSMAS issue on the National Joint Negotiating Council agenda.
“Last time we raised the issue at NJNC they said the issue is now with authorities in higher offices. We assumed with higher offices it would be the Vice President.
“So there is not much that we could do because they did not want to make it an NJNC matter although it is our view that it should. And from that perspective we can see a serious dislocation in the operations of the entity,” he said.
He said it was sad seeing the once vibrant society close shop, yet workers continued to contribute monthly from their paltry earnings.
“People continue to pay their money while not getting a service. If you go to Westend Hospital right now, it resembles a ghost house and that goes for the many facilities across the country,” he said.
Recently PSMAS workers came out in the media complaining that they had gone for months without being paid and they had also been served with retrenchment notices.
New Ziana
