A Deputy Coordinator of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) is challenging the Minister for Roads and Highways, Joe Gidisu to come again on his refusal to release funds for his project.
The Youth in Road Maintenance and Repair Module of the NYEP is facing possible collapse because the Roads Ministry is reluctant to release funds for implementation of the new module.
The near collapse of the module persist despite a presidential directive to the ministry to release 10 percent of money in the Road Fund for the programme.
The feet dragging posture by the ministry has plunged the NYEP into millions of Ghana cedis debt owed to Zeera Group, a private road and building construction firm contracted to help implement the module.
But the sector minister Joe Gidisu told Joy News that he is unable to grant their request until certain conditions have been met.
He said it had never been his interest, as a government appointee, to ‘sabotage’ government’s policy, but explained that the Act which established the Roads Fund does not approve of giving money to institutions outside its mandate.
“Unfortunately this is an Act of Parliament that set up the Ghana Road Fund with strict directive as to the agencies that we need to finance.”
Furthermore, Mr Gidisu said there are already labour-oriented contractors who were given intensive training at Koforidua under the jurisdiction of the Department of Feeder Roads, to undertake the road maintenance and other works similar to what the NYEP module is doing.
The officials of the NYEP, the Minister said, have been advised to allow persons already trained for the same purpose to rather recruit and pay personnel of NYEP, but that has been misconstrued.
But Deputy Coordinator of NYEP in charge of Research and Communications, Mutala Mohammed, told Joy FM’s Top Story Friday that the Minister’s argument does not hold water.
He said the Zeera Group was asked to go ahead with the module based on government’s commitment and agreement the NYEP had with ministries of Roads and Highways as well Youth and Sports, insisting that the money they are demanding was to pay the Zeera Group.
“This argument, unfortunately, that the Road Fund was established by law and therefore it would be difficult to access money from it to implement programmes of the NYEP, I don’t think it holds water.”
Mutala Mohammed said the Minister’s argument that they have labour intensive unit with contractors across the country who can recruit the NYEP personnel was untenable.
“The Ministry of Roads and Highways has no such capacity to recruit people for National Youth Employment Programme because we have criteria through which we engaged people.”
He said he had absolute confidence in the about 10,000 trainees recruited for that particular module under the NYEP, insisting, they will do a good job.
“Sometimes the response of the Minister is so shocking, because they (NYEP personnel) have been trained by experts from the same Ministry.”
In spite of the back and forth with the ministry, Mutala Mohammed is hopeful the module would not collapse with government releasing 60% of the Talk Tax Time to them.
Source: Myjoyonline.com/Ghana
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