Nurses union acquire land for housing scheme

The Union of Professional Nurses and Midwives Ghana (UPNMG) has launched a land and housing scheme in the Upper West Region for its members in good standing to help mitigate their challenge with land acquisition.

The 50 acre (200 plots) of land, located at Sanchiga in the Wa Municipality, would have a Police post, a mall, a clinic, and other basic necessities for human survival when developed.

Addressing nurses at the launch, Dr Damien Punguyire, the Upper West Regional Director of Health Services, commended the leadership of the union for the initiative and said it would help the members to plan appropriately for their retirement in terms of acquisition of a decent accommodation.

He encouraged the members of the union to take advantage of the land and housing scheme to invest in their retirement at the right time in order not to be stranded after retirement.

“The time is not there, many of our senior colleagues made terrible mistakes and they are regretting it now. There are some who have gone on retirement and are still occupying government bungalows.

“We want them to move out so we can have places for our staff, but they don’t have any place, they did not prepare for retirement and because of that they are stranded and when you force them to go out within a very short time, stress might let them lose their lives,” Dr Punguyire said.

He also called on the personnel to rededicate themselves to the calling of the profession of saving people’s lives saying, “A few of you are creating image problems for the services and nurses in general.”

Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, the Upper West Regional Minister, in a speech read on his behalf, encouraged the leadership of the UPNMG to consider supporting its members who would acquire the lands with loans to enable them to develop them.

Established in 2017 and registered as a labour union, the UPNMG was resolute in protecting and promoting the welfare of its members.

Mr Maxwel Oduro Yeboah, the National President of the union, said since its inception, the union had achieved many milestones in the pursuit of its mandate including insurance, hire purchase, health and education support, loans, and the housing schemes for its members.

“We are not only supporting our members but also helping the government to provide shelter for its citizens, which is one of the basic necessities of life.

“This is a capital investment, but we are of the firm belief that we will accomplish this just as has been done for all our policies”, he said.

Mr Saaka Salia, a representative of the Landlords of Jonga, the custodians of the land, expressed confidence that the move would help facilitate the development of the area.

He assured the leadership and members of the UPNMG that the necessary procedures had been followed in giving out the land and asked them not to entertain fear in developing it.