The federal government is beneath fireplace after releasing a measly $23 million mortgage facility to well being employees to purchase or assemble homes, but the determine is barely sufficient to assemble one home.
Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga’s Well being and Youngster Care ministry is struggling to stem the mass exodus of well being professionals, who’re protesting poor pay and dealing situations.
Well being employees have been pushing for higher pay and in United States {dollars}, saying the native foreign money element has pushed them into deep poverty.
Authorities says it has no capability to fulfill their calls for, and promised different non-monetary incentives equivalent to housing loans, which have been dismissed as laughable by unions.
In a memo addressed to Well being and Youngster Care ministry heads of divisions, chief medical officers and provincial medical administrators dated August 30, Jasper Chimedza who’s the ministry’s secretary stated $23 million has been obtained from Treasury for the housing mortgage scheme.
“Please be suggested that the ministry of Well being and Youngster Care was allotted $23 000 000 for the junior civil service mortgage facility and is looking for functions from eligible junior members (beneath deputy director stage) to entry the mortgage scheme,” Chimedza wrote.
“The mortgage is being coordinated at head workplace stage and your respective officers are anticipated to ahead one software from a member in dire want of economic help to be utilised for the development of residential properties and upgrading of residential properties.”
Utilizing the interbank fee, $23 million interprets to an estimated US$46 000 and roughly US$35 000 on the parallel market.
A housing stand prices something about US$5 000 to US$15 000 relying on the dimensions and placement.
Zimbabwe Nurses Affiliation (Zina) president Enock Dongo stated authorities was by no means critical about addressing the plight of well being employees.
“There isn’t any sincerity in any respect from authorities so far as this difficulty is worried,” Dongo stated.
“How can they allocate such a small quantity which might solely afford to construct or purchase one home in Glenview?
“We’re saying to authorities, ‘let’s cease fooling one another.
“Can we realistically enhance the working situations of well being employees.
“In the event that they need to give that cash to at least one particular person, let or not it’s clear to everybody and never waste individuals’s time.”
Because the wage dispute with authorities rages on, nurses have been quitting their jobs en-masse.
In line with Dongo, an estimated 3 000 nurses have stop their jobs and left for the UK since 2021.
Just a few months in the past, the UK stated its well being system must fill about 110 192 posts left vacant after the dying of frontline well being employees due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Authorities has introduced plans to ban docs and nurses from embarking on strike for greater than three days beneath new proposed amendments to the Well being Companies Act.
Below the Well being Companies Modification Invoice, employee representatives who face costs of inciting nurses and docs to embark on a strike motion deemed unlawful might be jailed for 3 years in what authorities argue is critical to ostensibly “instil self-discipline” within the well being sector.
