The Deputy Minister of Tourism, Mr Mohammed Ahmed Baba-Jamal, has lauded officials of the Local Enterprises and Skills Development Programme (LESDEP), for having a nationalistic outlook and need driven approach in the selection of persons for the project. He said the project was designed to benefit all Ghanaians and that not politicizing it was in the right direction. “A person does not need to belong to party A or B to register for the programme,” he noted. Mr Baba-Jamal said this at the presentation of setup equipment to 31 individuals and groups under the LESDEP programme at Akwatia on Monday. Ms Fatahiya Zulka, Eastern Regional Coordinator of LESDEP, said the programme did not discriminate against anybody as it had programmes for people with disabilities. Ms Zulka urged the beneficiaries to work hard and pay back the cost of items given to them. The graduates were thankful to the government and LESDEP for the opportunity given them and promised to work hard so that they can pay for many others to also benefit. The government nominee for the District Chief Executive post for the newly created Denkyembuo District, Mr Samuel Kweku Abrokwa, who chaired the function, pleaded with the beneficiaries not to keep the items given them in their rooms but to work with them to be able to pay back the cost early. LESDEP is a private-public partnership intervention aimed at addressing the high unemployment rate across the country.