Kumasi (Ghanaian Times) --The Ministry of Manpower Youth and Employment is to incorporate small scale mining into the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP).

Dubbed ‘Youth in Mines,’ the incorporation is to enable the small scale miners or ‘galamsey’ operators to be recognised by the Minerals Commission and also to receive special training aimed at restoring the environment to a usable condition for the communities.

Mr. Boniface Abubakar Saddique, the sector minister, who announced this to media personnel here on Monday, said when the galamsey operators are legalised, the ministry would endeavour to provide them with machines and try to set them up.

"We recognise that deforestation has been a problem in Ghana for decades and with the programme it will ensure that trees are grown before the mine starts," he added.

Mr. Saddique was speaking when he led the Parliamentary Select Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises to the Ashanti Region for a two-day tour of the Youth Employment Programme in Kumasi.

It emerged during the tour that 440 youths have been registered to be trained as health extension workers to assist doctors and nurses at hospitals.

The registered persons had started a six-month training course which focuses on skills development, structure of the programme and job description, among the lots.

Under the programme the beneficiaries would be given a monthly allowance of ¢400,000 untill completion of the training.

The Minister said, government attached much importance to the NYEP and hoped that the youth would take the programme seriously.

According to him, government had so far expended about ¢120 billion on the 10 modules with ¢15 billion alone disbursed for the training of teachers.

Some of the modules are the Youth in Agriculture, Community Protectors and the National Volunteer scheme.

He said, under the NYEP, about 300,000 youths are expected to be provided with employment by the end of this year, meanwhile 80,000 are currently employed.

Mr. Saddique said the sustainability of the NYEP depended on the flow of money and that the government would ensure that such a laudable programme would stay.

Mr. Paul Okoh, chairman of the Select Committee and a Member of Parliament for Asutifi North, advised the youth in the nursing programme to be patriotic adding, "You have a lot of opportunities as the training you are receiving will catapult you into greater heights in the future."

The Ranking Member, Jagri Mohammed who is the MP for Zabzugu Tatale, commended the government for the NYEP which he said aimed at reducing unemployment in the country.

"This is not an NPP or NDC or any party’s programme, let us see it so, and embrace it instead of trying to politicise it," he added.