Newmont Ghana Gold Limited has equipped over one hundred and sixty young people in the Ahafo region with relevant skills and technical know-how in various construction vocations.

This is part of efforts to reduce the unemployment rate in the region and to increase local participation at the Ahafo mines of Newmont.

In the company’s latest training program, seventy-six males and females have completed a three-month training in welding and fabrication, scaffolding, and steel bending with both local and international institutions.

Dubbed the Construction Workers Training, the three-month employable skills acquisition program, started in 2021, follows several training programs implemented by Newmont Ghana Gold Limited.

The mining company has since 2005 rolled out numerous local human resource enhancement programs, including Apprenticeship, Learnership, Female Top-up, Graduate Trainee, and Artisanal Small-Scale Mining Alternative Livelihood Training.

The training programs aim at enhancing local capacities in the host communities for future job opportunities at the mine and in the extractive industry.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony for the trainees, Director of the Ahafo North Project, Andries Havenga, said the services of the artisans will be highly appreciated during the construction of the company’s new mine.

“We established this programme to train local artisans from our host communities to enhance their capacity to meet required standards and approved certifications required for delivering work for us and future work opportunities within the extractive industry,” he said.

Forty-eight young people enrolled in the program are set to commence their training in masonry and carpentry, while the remaining undergo equipment and crane operations tuition later in the year.

Sharing the success stories of some graduates, Senior Manager, Sustainability and International Relations, Joseph Danso, encouraged the trainees to cease every opportunity to equip themselves.

“Take this training seriously and take advantage of the opportunity offered to learn as much as you can and apply yourselves to excel. Others who went through the program are achieving these great milestones in their lives today because they made conscious effort to push themselves up after gaining the opportunity,” he said.

The Ahafo region has records of attacks by youth and unknown assailants on the mine over their non-participation in gold exploitation.

A recent attack saw residential facilities at the mine ransacked and properties vandalized.

Regional minister, George Boakye, wants stakeholders, including the youth to live amicably within the mining enclave to attract more investors to boost the local economy.

“Nobody would want to invest in a community where there is no peace and stability. Industrial peace is very key to any development,” he said.

Beneficiaries like Opoku Anim who has been unemployed since 2018 after graduating with an HND in Marketing were grateful for the training.

“When we started it was a bit confusing, but as time went by we were able to grasped whatever we were being exposed to. This would really help us a lot,” Mary Offei, a welding and fabrication beneficiary, said.