The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has kicked against government’s decision to export the services of trained nurses to Barbados.
According to TUC, it was wrong for the country to export professional nurses when many communities across the country do not have access to the services of these professional nurses.
Commenting on the 2020 government budget statement and fiscal policy in a statement issued in Accra yesterday, it called on the government to review the decision.
“Do we really have excess supply of these professionals in Ghana? Why are we exporting their services when many citizens do not have access to the services of professional nurses? This is the time we should provide incentives for our health professionals to stay and work in Ghana. We should not encourage them to leave the country,” the TUC stated.
On the labour front, the TUC urged for a review of the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP) and the market premium to improve rewards for public sector workers with critical skills that are in short supply in order to keep them in Ghana to enhance public service delivery.
It proposed a Labour Bank to provide loans for housing, cars and other consumer goods for workers in both the private and public sectors to deal with the housing deficit facing the country.
It further reiterated support for government’s plan to establish a National Development Bank to focus on development financing including financing of housing for workers.
As a means to improve government’s revenue, the TUC urged for appropriate measures to curb all irregularities in the tax administration system and a review of the the existing free trade agreements to reduce the number of imported products that are being admitted into zero-rate tariff category.
As part of government’s human capital and skill development effort, it asked the government to make adequate provision in the 2020 Budget for training and retraining of public sector professionals and workers to improve labour productivity and public service delivery.
It commended government for the termination of the agreement with Power Distribution Services (PDS) and urged government not to rush to give power distribution services to another concessionaire since the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has the capacity to manage power distribution efficiently.
It reiterated calls for open contracting to eliminate corruption and venality that have become features of Ghana’s public agreements in recent times.
The TUC appealed to government to make adequate provision for the census in the 2020 Budget to make resources available to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) for effective programme without relying on donors for the national exercise.
BY TIMES REPORTER
