Accommodation: Union Decries Plight Of Members In FCT

The Nigerian Civil
    Service Union (NCSU) has decried the level of hardship faced by workers at the Federal Capital Territory, over difficulty and high cost of accommodation in the territory.
Speaking to journalists on the matter, the secretary of the NCSU, FCT Chapter, Mr. Nehemiah Ogem, said that the civil servants’ productivity will be boosted if government provides accommodation for them in locations near their offices.
“Most of the civil servants are living in faraway places like Suleja, Mararaba, Keffi, Gwagwalada and Karu, because they can not afford the house rent in the FCT.
“They often get to office late, and they habitually leave the office before the closing time so as to avoid traffic congestion”, he said.
The labour leader 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 is collaborating with estate developers to build an estate for civil servants, adding that the union is waiting for approval for land acquisition from the Federal Capital Development Agency.
Meanwhile, a resident of the FCT, Mr. James Odiah, said that government should allocate houses that are built by various estate developers to workers and low-income earners while deducting the cost of the houses from their salaries.
“By this way, the activities of Shylock landlords in the FCT will be curbed, as people will have alternative and better sources of accommodation”, he said.