The Member of Parliament for Ablekuma Central, Theophilus Tetteh Chaie has bemoaned the lack of skills development programs under the National Youth Employment Program [NYEP]. He says programs that aim at developing the capacity of beneficiaries such as carpentry, tailoring and engineering should have been part of the modules under the NYEP to enable beneficiaries manage their own fortunes when they graduate from the program. Created in 2006, the NYEP has about 14 modules which covers areas such as road maintenance, sachet water production and community policing. The NYEP was designed to create employment opportunities for the youth as well as empower them to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country. But speaking on the newspaper review segment of Adom TV’s morning show Badwam on Multi TV, the Ablekuma Central MP noted that the absence of modules on skills development is a minus to the initiative. According to him the addition of such programs would go a long way to support the beneficiaries to manage their livelihoods as well as deal with the country’s unemployment situation since “the country has a huge deficit and unemployment is a major issue.” The MP also criticized the sanitation module of the program saying it “is nothing to write home about”. He lamented the poor remuneration system as well as the allowances paid those enrolled under the program and suggested that the financial framework of the program be reviewed to motivate the employees. Mr. Chaie noted that as part of government’s efforts to address the unemployment situation in the country government is creating an independent department to deal with matters of concern to the NYEP. Story by Agbavor Koku Prince/ Multi TV