Leadership of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) has advocated the need for targeted housing projects to reduce the housing deficit among public sector workers.
Dr David Tenkorang-Twum, the Association’s General Secretary (GS), who made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Pusu-Namongo in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region, said the GRNMA was concerned with the housing policy in the country.
The GS was in the Region to witness the inauguration of new Regional executives for the GRNMA for the next four years.
‘If we do targeted housing, for instance, we are building 10,000 unit houses for nurses and midwives, 5000 housing units for doctors, 20,000 housing units for teachers, only these categories of professionals would be able to apply for such houses, and it will help all of us,’ he said.
Dr Tenkorang-Twum said military, police officers and judges enjoyed affordable housing projects and advocated that same should be extended to other professional bodi
es to reduce the housing deficit.
‘Targeted housing regime is the best way, and we will recommend same to all the politicians who want our votes, that they must rise up and know that the past solutions are not working,’ he said.
Dr Tenkorang-Twum further emphasized the need for such housing projects to be decentralized across the Regions and Districts.
He suggested that the houses could be rented out to the professionals, and the proceeds could be used to build more housing units for unborn generations.
On welfare of members of the Association, Dr Tenkorang-Twum said, ‘We think that welfare issues of nurses and midwives are poor in Ghana. Government must increase our salary.
‘Our market premium is pegged as of 2012. We think that government should peg the market premium to the 2023 or 2024 basic salary, and we think that it will enhance the salary and nurses will stay in the country and work,’ he said.
Dr Tenkorang-Twum urged nurses and midwives to join the GRNMA, which was the only recognized nurses an
d midwives Association with the power to negotiate for better conditions of service for members.
He noted that the divisions within the nursing and midwifery professions were not necessary, ‘When we come together, that is when we are more formidable. Unions that are respected in Ghana are unions that are formidable and not splinter groups.
‘The Association has been in existence since 1960, there are systems of accountability, there are a lot of welfare systems in the Association; we are able to give as much as GHS80000.00 to a nurse or midwife who is a member with health issues,’ he said.
The GS said there were parcels of land sold to members across the Regions with hostel facilities at discounted costs for members.
‘For instance, in the Greater Accra Regional hostel, if you are a member and you go to sleep there, you pay GHS50.00, if you are not a member, you pay GHS350.00.
‘So if you are a nurse or midwife in Ghana, and you can sleep in a facility as beautiful as we have in the Upper East Region, and p
ay GHS50.00, why wouldn’t you want to be part of such a facility,’ he quizzed.
Source: Ghana News Agency