The Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), Mr. Samuel Sarpong, has said the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) marks a milestone in the National Democratic Congress “Better Ghana Agenda”, as it aims at creating more jobs for unemployed school leavers. The NYEP, he further stated, was an enhanced national, programme aimed at ensuring that a significant proportion of the youth were actively engaged in some form of productive employment. The KMA Boss stated this at the graduation and passing-out parade of Sanitation and Traffic, Task Force under the NYEP in Kumasi. Mr. Sarpong said the NYEP was designed to provide more employment opportunities for the youth in all sectors of the economy. This he stressed was aimed at achieving the Millennium Development Goals on reducing poverty, improving environmental and public health. He said environmental sanitation and traffic congestion were some of the major challenges in the metropolis, adding that it was a great relief to see strong and energetic task force been properly trained in best practices. The existing KMA decongestion task force, he said had done a good job, but expressed concern that “we still need more hands on deck to maintain law and order as well as ensure that pedestrians and drivers use the approved routes”. He told the graduates to remember that their training was being financed by public funds and, therefore, owed it a duty to give back to society what it required for development. He told the graduates to discharge their duties responsibly and work in accordance with the KMA bye-laws. He also told them to work devoid of selfish interests and reminded them that the KMA c would not overlook any illegalities if any of them were found culpable. “Please discharge your duties responsibly arid in accordance with the laid down bye- laws of the assembly. This is not a chance for you to pursue your selfish interests. Remember that we will not condone any illegalities; the law would be allowed to take its course if anyone is caught by it”, he stated. The Ashanti Regional Coordinator of the NYEP, Mr. Omari Ibrahim Nyameya, congratulated the graduates who for the past three months had gone through physical and theoretical training at the Jubilee Park and the f Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), respectively in Kumasi. According to him, the graduates went through physical training in drills and other forms of exercises, adding that they were also trained on the KMA’s Traffic and Sanitation bye-laws. He said the graduation was a new partnership the NYEP had made with the KMA, adding that the NYEP was the employment agency whilst the KMA was the user agency. The 200 graduates - 60 males and 140 females, he said were required to work sanitise the sanitation and traffic challenges in the Kumasi metropolis. The NYEP coordinator who has been in office since 2009, advised the graduates to be disciplined, ensuring that they made their conduct reflect the training they had had and do what was expected of them. Source: Daily Graphic