OIL WORKERS NEEDLESSLY TORTURING THE MASSES, SAYS JONATHAN

THE ongoing industrial action of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) is a needless exercise that has more adversely affected the low-income earners than the rich, President Goodluck Jonathan has said.
Speaking in Abuja Thursday at the official flag-off of the Federal Government’s nationwide mass housing programme for workers in Apo, Jonathan said that it was unfortunate that leaders of the two unions decided unilaterally to call out their members on strike without recourse to dialogue with government.
The President described the development as a needless torture of the down trodden, stating, however, that high-level negotiations were ongoing to resolve the issues raised. He added that subsequently, oil workers or any other sector’s union should rather engage government for immediate resolution of their contentions than call out members for strike.
“Endeavour to dialogue before you start an industrial actions,” he urged the unions. “The strike embarked upon by oil workers has merely forced workers and the poor to pay more to either go to work or even go to the market.
“The rich are not affected, it is the masses that take public transport and are forced to pay more, and the students. This is why we believe that the strike should have been averted if there was dialogue. We are currently holding talks to put an end to this once and for all.”
Meanwhile, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, said at the ceremony demonstrates the synergies of Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative at the instance of the Federal Government to bridge the housing deficit gap created over the years.
According to her, about 10,000 housing units, ranging from five-bedroom duplex to three-bedroom blocks of flats, and two-bedroom blocks of flats would be completed and delivered early next year.
She noted that the initiative is supported by wide ranging partnership with the Ministry of Finance and other key stakeholders, adding that the establishment of the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) in January was in furtherance of the national housing and urban development policy to give workers access to affordable housing.
While urging governors to key into the scheme for workers in their states, the minister added that adequate logistics would be provided for states willing to adopt the programme design for their workers.
Chairman, Good Homes Development Limited, which is the private developer of the project, Prince Ukachukwu, promised to deliver the first phase of the houses by June 2015. He stressed that the partnership was unique because it was the first time government was partnering a private developer on housing scheme for government workers.
According to him, the construction of the 10,000 housing units will create about 500 new jobs across all levels, in addition to contributing about N1 trillion to the nation’s GDP base.
He assured that the houses would be delivered at highly affordable rates to reflect the object of the scheme, while maintaining the standards of Asokoro and other developed districts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Source: Guardian