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Editorial

National Rent Assistance Scheme laudable, but …

 Dear Editor,

In 2023, the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia launched the National Rental Assistance Scheme (NRAS), to cushion tenants that hope to rent decent accommodation.

Reportedly, government paid a whopping GHȻ13.8 million rent ad­vance to beneficiaries across the six regions as of November 2023.

That makes the policy a very good one to help people get decent places to stay.

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Considering the number of people seeking decent accommodation but without the corresponding rental demands and the amount of money the scheme has expended already, it means this scheme could collapse in no time.

It is the reason why an intervention announced by the new Minister of Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nk­rumah to address the housing deficit in Ghana must be embraced by all.

At a validation workshop to revise Ghana’s Housing Profile in Accra on April 9, 2024, Mr Nkrumah said gov­ernment was working on giving master developers in the housing sector in­centives like tax breaks, streamlined approval processes for construction permits and land allocation at com­petitive rates to jump-start housing projects to bridge the gap.

One of such key abandoned projects is the Saglemi Housing Project, which has 1,506 housing units waiting to be occupied. The Ministry has therefore invited bids from private developers to rehabilitate those units and get them ready for rental.

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Secondly, I would want to implore the government or the appropriate authorities to enforce Ghana’s Rent Act, Act 220 that prescribes not more than one month rent as rent advance.

It is sad that despite the existence of this Act, the landlords and agents are still operating in their own world, charging rents putting prospective tenants off.

The situation has created a lot of difficulties for Ghanaians and the earlier government solve them, the better.

Nortey Christabel Naa Shormeh

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Level 300

UNIMAC-IJ (Faculty of Journalism)

NAASHORMEYCHRISTABEL@GMAIL.COM

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Editorial

 Kudos to Ho Teaching Hospi­tal staff, but …

 Dear Editor,

If there is any group of professionals that get bad-mouthed the most, then you are referring to nurses and med­ical doctors assigned to public hospitals across the country.

For this particular letter, I want to sing the praises of this same group of pro­fessionals that work at the Ho Teaching Hospital, famously known as Trafalgar.

Despite the work load and the mass ca­sualties received at the emergency ward of the hospital, the welcoming nature of the nurses and the professional touch by the doctors can’t be ignored. My personal experience has got me travelling from my base in Accra to seek medical services from these professionals.

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Special mention has to be made of the likes of Precious of the Pharmacy Depart­ment, Dr Brandon Banor (a maxillofacial resident) of the Dental unit, male nurse Justice assigned to the female surgical ward. Words cannot really do justice to their affable, professional caring nature. A simple thank you is all that I can say.

In the same vein, I can’t but call out the bad attitude of the auxiliary staff and contractors of the hospital.

Chief among them is some of the contracted bank staff that handle the payment section of the hospital and the patient registration section (those that check the status of the patient as to whether they are fee paying patients or NHIS sponsored).

The attitude at times leaves a bad taste in the mouth. One such occurrence was a night staff of the registration section who had her legs on the office table whilst talking to patients.

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The CEO of the hospital needs to shine his torch light on this support sections be­fore they erode the awesome performance of the direct medical staff of the hospital.

Thank you for the space.

Kwesi Manu

Accra

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Editorial

 Develop policies to address disability concerns

 Dear Editor,

AT the beginning of the year, when I went to the bank to deposit money into my uncle’s account, I observed a very sad situation where a man in a wheelchair strug­gled to navigate his way around the facility.

This is because the struc­ture is disability unfriendly.

As I stood and watched how the man struggled to move his wheelchair, I felt sad and wondered if this is how the life of a disabled person should be. It be­comes worse if there is no one to offer help.

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In Ghana, People With Disabilities (PWDs) are of­ten treated differently and are often subjected to all forms of discrimination.

Most of these people find themselves in such a situ­ation as a result of unfor­tunate happenings such as accidents and injuries.

It is, therefore, not appropriate for anyone to discriminate against them. Discrimination against such persons take many forms, including how buildings are constructed.

Most of the public struc­tures are not disability friendly and impede their movement.

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As a country, we should consider the PWDs in de­signing our structures. I also think that there should be a national policy that seeks to address this issue.

I have a strong conviction that when such a policy is developed by the govern­ment, people with disabili­ties would feel appreciated and also promote social inclusivity.

Ray,

Kasoa

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