15,000 youth to be employed under new service agreement between Forestry Commission and Youth Employment Agency

Some 15,000 youth across the country are to be employed under a new service agreement signed today between the Forestry Commission (FC) and the Youth Employment Agency (YEA).

The fifteen thousand recruits will be trained and equipped to among others carry out forest plantation establishments, maintenance of existing forest plantations, coppice management and enrichment plantation.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie in a speech before the formal signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Commission and the YEA observed that in fulfillment of government's budgetary pledge to create employment for the teeming unemployed youth, the government has allocated funds for the development and implementation of a forest plantation programme. The funds he said will be administered by the YEA, the agency responsible for the facilitation and coordination of employment opportunities for the Youth of Ghana. Mr Afriyie also disclosed that the employment programme is for an initial two year period after which it will be reviewed, extended and enhanced.

Justin Kodua Frimpong, Chief Executive Officer of Youth Employment Agency, (YEA) reiterated his outfit's commitment to ensuring that all the youth of Ghana are gainfully employed. He added that all 15,000 employees of the programme will earn GHc 400.00 as their allowance on monthly bases during the first phase of the Forest Plantation Programme.

After both Chief Executives of the two institutions signed the MOU, they disclosed that the Forest Plantation Programme (FPP) will kick start in January 2018.