Labour Leader Tasks FG On Workers’ Housing

Worried by the in-
creasing house rent at the nation’s capital city, the Secretary to the FCT chapter of the Nigerian Civil Service Union, Mr. Nehemiah Ogem, has urged the Federal Government to meet the workers expectations in providing affordable housing.
Ogem said that the civil servants productivity will be boosted if the government provides accommodation for the workers in locations nearer to their offices.
The labour leader who spoke to journalists in Abuja while reacting to the housing challenges of workers in the city recently stated that most houses in the low-density areas of Abuja remained unoccupied because most residents could not afford their rents.
“Most of the civil servants are living in faraway places like Suleja, |Mararaba, Keffi, Gwagwalada and Karu, among others because they can not afford the house rent in the FCT”, he said.
He said “they often get to office late and they habitually leave the office before the closing time so as to avoid traffic congestion in the city”.
The labout leader also appealed to the Federal Government to put in place a system that will regulate house rents and penalise owners of locked-up houses that are unoccupied within a specific period.
Ogem said that his union was collaborating with estate developers to build an estate for civil servants, adding that the union was waiting for approval for land acquisition from the Federal Capital Development Agency.
He also urged government to allocate houses that are built by various estate developers to workers and low-income earners, stating that the cost of the houses should be deducted from salaries.
“By this way, the activities of shylock landlords in the FCT will be curbed, as people will have alternative sources of accommodation that are better and comfortable”, he said.