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The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report has not been received. It must therefore repeat its previous observation, which read as follows:

The Committee notes the observations from the Christian Confederation of Workers of Central Africa (CCTC) concerning the application of Article 12 of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Office brought the above observations to the Government’s attention on 18 October 2002 and that, so far, the Government’s comments on them have not been received. The Committee hopes that the Government will send its comments as soon as possible so that the Committee may examine them together with the observations by the CCTC.

The Committee recalls that in its previous observation it requested the Government to provide full and up-to-date information on: (i) the actual size of the outstanding debts due to wage earners (number of workers affected, length of delay in payment and total amount of sums owed, number and nature of establishments concerned); (ii) the specific measures taken to improve the situation including measures to ensure effective supervision, strict application of penalties and adequate compensation of workers’ losses from the delay in payment; (iii) the results obtained.

In its report the Government indicates that at 30 August 2002 there were wage arrears only in the public sector and that they covered 20 months, from December 2000 to July 2002.

The Committee expresses its concern at the non-payment of wages in the public sector. It notes that this problem has lasted for nearly two years and expresses regrets that the Government’s report does not provide the information requested previously on the number of workers concerned, the total amount due and the number and nature of the establishments concerned by the problem of wage arrears. Nor does the Government’s report refer to any measures taken to improve the situation, in particular by means of effective supervision, strict application of sanctions and adequate compensation for the losses sustained by workers as a result of the delays. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take appropriate measures without delay to settle the arrears affecting public sector workers and their families.

The Committee is also addressing a request directly to the Government.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the very near future.