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Pamela Shumba/Talent Munda Chronicle Reporters
THE National Social Security Authority (NSSA) is working on setting up a building society to cater specifi cally for civil servants so that the government workers can have access to aff ordable housing loans by the end of June, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Speaking during a familiarisation tour of NSSA facilities in Beitbridge Town last Th ursday, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Prisca Mupfumira said support from the proposed bank would form part of the non-monetary incentives for government workers.
She also said plans to establish the new building society were at an advanced stage with three quarters of the approvals having already been assented to. “We’re most likely going to see a NSSA bank before the end of the second quarter of 2015 as negotiations with key stakeholders are at an advanced stage” said Mupfumira.
“As you could be aware, the government has promised non-monetary benefi ts to civil servants and this is one of government’s gestures towards fulfi lling that promise.”
She said her ministry was also in the process of coming up with a board for the building society, with $5 million expected to be injected into the scheme as seed money. “Th is is also in line with government’s economic blue print, Zim-Asset, where accommodation is one of our top priorities. Everybody who is interested is supposed to benefi t from this scheme,” said the minister.
“Th ree quarters of our civil servants are deployed in rural and peri-urban centres and it’s ideal for teachers, nurses and extension workers among other civil servants to acquire decent accommodation.”
Th e minister added that the government was reviving the Tripartite Negotiation Forum (TNF), which brings together the Apex Council and the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) to deliberate on how to improve workers’ conditions of service.
She said negotiations with local authorities were on-going to facilitate successful implementation of the scheme. Mupfumira said local authorities were obliged to cede 10 percent of serviced stands to government workers.
Th e government has a national housing policy and NSSA is expected to be a major player in the implementation of this policy, she added. Of late civil servants have been struggling to acquire stands or houses due to exorbitant prices charged by private developers and if they manage to get stands, they struggle to develop them due to lack of funds.
Th is leaves many with no option but to get expensive loans from commercial banks and loan sharks who charge exorbitant interest rates. “Given that background, NSSA’s building society will come in handy in easing civil servants’ burden of acquiring accommodation,” said Mupfumira.
Commenting on rental increments for civil servants, the minister promised to enquire with her Ministry of Finance and Local Government, Public Works and National Housing counterparts.
“Th e issue here is not about rental increments but probably the percentage increment could be of concern,” she said.
Online Reporter