Saltpond (C/R), Nov. 11, GNA - An 11-member District Employment task force was on Thursday inaugurated at Saltpond to create opportunities of livelihood for the youth.

In a speech to inaugurate it, Mr Robert Quainoo-Arthur, the Mfantseman District Chief Executive said the task force was born out of the youth employment and job creation programme introduced by the government for accelerated development of the nation.

Mr Quainoo-Arthur said the programme would also help to check the drift of the youth from rural to urban communities.

He announced that the government has withheld the last two payments of the Poverty Reduction component of the district assemblies common fund to enable it to create a central pool into which all poverty reduction interventions would be put for effective management to enhance job creation through micro financing.

The DCE said the programme would be in two phases -- the short term and the medium to long term.

He said under the short-term programme, rural education volunteers would be recruited and trained to augment the teaching staff of the district, as well as auxiliary nurses to help in the health delivery of the people.

Mr Quainoo-Arthur said the task force was to facilitate the identification and mobilisation of the youth, identify potential economic projects in the district, ensure implementation of such projects and to see to the disbursement of funds to beneficiary groups. The membership of the task force included the representative of the DCE, the district coordinator of the national Youth Council, the District Director of Agriculture, the District Director of Education, the District cooperative officer, the District NADMO officer, and the District NBSSI officer.