Central Regional Minister, Madam Ama Benyiwa Doe, says government has no intention to sack workers under the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP). In a speech read on her behalf by Mr Jacob Obeng-Forson, Agona West Municipal Chief Executive, at the inauguration of an eight-member District Employment Taskforce for Gomoa East at Afransi, in the Central Region, she dismissed rumours about pending lay offs. She said the government is rather going to employ an additional 100,000 workers under the NYEP in the areas of health, education, sanitation, community policing and others areas. According to Madam Benyiwa-Doe, government is in the process of paying SSNIT contributions to workers under programme to enable them have pension benefits. According to her, government would address all the lapses confronting the NYEP to make it more attractive. The Regional Minister urged politicians to stop politicizing the NYEP by inciting people against government. She charged the taskforce members to be proactive in their work to create more jobs for the unemployed youth in the newly created Gomoa East District to reduce poverty. National Project Officer of ILO, Mr. Patrice Sowah, urged the taskforce to ensure that model and decent employment are provided to the unemployed. He expressed concern that teenagers, especially girls as young as 13, indulge in sexual immorality and urged district assemblies, traditional rulers and religious bodies to embark on programmes to educate them on HIV/AIDS and teenage pregnancy. He noted that the failure of about 50% candidates at the recent Basic Education Certificate Examination impact negatively on national development. The Project Officer urged Ghanaians to stop doing politics with education in the country because it holds the key to poverty reduction and human development. Mr. Prince Abbam, Presiding Member of the Gomoa East District Assembly, assured the ILO officials of the assembly’s preparedness to ensure that the taskforce works to its perfection. He expressed hope that the programme would assist the people especially the youth to establish their own businesses instead of migrating to urban towns and cities in search of non existing jobs. Source: GNA