There is no doubt that the National Rental Assistance Scheme would go a long way in ameliorating the challenges encountered by workers in the country.
For young Ghanaians entering the job bracket, one of the first challenges they encounter especially, when they are posted outside their hometowns or even regions, is shelter.
Accra and Kumasi remain by far the locations with the most challenging accommodation regimes. With landlords demanding rent advances of two years and above for a worker who is yet to receive his first salary the enormity of the ado, cannot be underrated.
It is thoughtful of the originators of the rental assistance scheme to have come out with what by all standards is a game-changer.
Social interventions like this are needed at moments of economic distress such as the world is enduring currently.
That government, in spite of the foregone, has been able to roll out such a scheme underscores its commitment to ensuring the welfare of the citizenry.
Being a novelty, we won’t pretend that there would not be hiccups in its implementation.
While some challenges will be unintentional, originating out of dearth of knowledge about a novelty, others will result from selfish machinations by devious persons associated with the implementation of the project.
There would always be bad elements who, because of greed and their selfishness, could not care a hoot about the success of this wonderful intervention.
Those charged with the implementation of the project must consider the national interest and discharge their assignments with a sense of urgency and patriotism.
A consistent regime of monitoring and evaluation especially, since a private entity is going to be engaged in a critical aspect of the programme, would be necessary.
Periodic review of the programme, as a response to the hiccups that may be noticed in the implementation, should be a feature of the project.
Those who would constitute stumbling blocks as the programme is rolled out should be axed without hesitation.
Defaulting, a feature of some Ghanaians when social interventions of the ilk of the subject under review are being rolled out, should not be allowed by all means.
Sufficient arrangements should be put in place to ensure that beneficiaries repay loans advanced to them to surmount the shelter hurdle.
Lessons from other social interventions involving drawing from the public kitty should be brought to bear upon this novelty, the students’ loan scheme readily coming to mind.
It is heartwarming to learn that the 59-year-old Rent Act will soon be replaced as a replacement bill awaits legislative overhaul in Parliament, as announced by the Vice President when he was launching game-changer.