FCT Workers Appeals To Wike To Prioritize Staff Housing

By: Prudence Okonna

Workers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), under the Joint Unions Action Committee (JUAC), have appealed to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to make the provision of staff housing one of his priorities.

The workers made the appeal during the commencement of the JUAC Week at the FCDA Conference hall, Central Business District, Abuja, Wednesday.

The JUAC President, Rifkatu Iortyer, who said the JUAC Week has a theme, “FCT Civil Service Commission – A New Dawn”, pointed out that Abuja is one of the cities with the highest cost of rent in the country.

Iortyer added that the development had forced many workers to stay on the outskirts of the city, where rent was affordable.

She said that to address the challenge, JUAC had secured land eight years ago, for a staff housing estate but has been unable to develop it due to paucity of funds.

Her words: “We wish to appeal to the Minister to consider our plea considering that housing is key to our staff. If we cannot do it as a union, let the housing issue be one of our Minister’s priorities by providing affordable housing to our staff.”

JUAC President also appealed to the Minister to look into the transportation scheme for workers; noting that most of the staff buses have been grounded since the COVID-19 lockdown.

She commended the Minister for being labour-friendly and a welfarist to workers; adding that the biggest gift to the FCT workers was the FCT Civil Service Commission (CSC) because our members can now grow to the peak of their career.