Eighty vulnerable young women around the Bui Dam enclave in the Banda District of the Bono Region have undergone employable skills training to enhance their socio-economic livelihoods.

They comprised teenage mothers and pregnant women, who were taken through six weeks of intensive training in prayer mat and bag making.

The Bui Power Authority (BPA), the Managers of the Bui Hydroelectric Power Dam, funded the training.

The beneficiaries were among the Dam’s identifiable Project Affected Persons (PAPs), who were also supported with working tools and equipment to set up their own businesses.

Mr Emmanuel Kwame Addo, the Chief Executive Officer of Matamiss Pottery, an Accra-based skills training firm, said the beneficiaries were able to make and sell 500 bags during the training period.

He said a market was already available for the bags and prayer mats, and advised the beneficiaries to apply the skills acquired to enhance their lot.

He said very soon his firm would set up a ceramic factory in the area to create employment for the youth.

Mr Wumbilla Salifu, the Director of General Services of the BPA, explained that the training formed part of the Authority’s Livelihood Empowerment Programme (LEP Two), which aimed to improve on the socio-economic livelihoods of the affected persons.

He commended the trainees for the commitment and advised them to attach the same seriousness to their work to improve their income to cater for themselves and families.