Sunyani, July 29, GNA - Mr. Kwadwo Nyamekye Marfo, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, has said the government had awarded contract for the construction of classroom blocks in 21 Senior High Schools(SHS) in the region to cater for the four year Senior High School programme due to start in September.

Additionally, an amount of GHC 20,208,900.00 has been voted for the provision of educational infrastructure including classroom blocks, dormitories, libraries and science and computer laboratories across the region.

Mr Nyamekye Marfo said this in an address read for him at the 2010 regional youth forum organised by the National Youth Council in Brong-Ahafo that brought together selected youth associations in the region.

The two-day forum is under the theme: "Promoting Youth Empowerment for Productive and Better Positioning - Brong-Ahafo Youth for Active Participation".

He said the creation of an enabling, supportive, and informative environment would ensure effective youth participation in the development of more pragmatic solutions to the numerous challenges that the youth, society and the nation as a whole faced.

Mr Nyamekye Marfo said rapid urbanization, outmoded farm practices, uncontrolled mining, logging and lumbering, pollution of water bodies, unsatisfactory sanitary practices, widespread bush fires had caused environmental problems.

He urged the youth as "custodians of the future, to be in the forefront against unsound environmental practices and to lead an unflinching crusade against environmental degradation through unscrupulous activities by nation wreckers".

"Modernisation, unemployment and gradual breakdown of social support networks and institutions have fuelled anti-social behaviour such as violence and crime among the youth, who are the greatest assets of every development- inclined nation.

"The success of the fight against indulgence in illicit drugs, sexual promiscuity, teenage pregnancy, illegal abortion, early marriage and parentage, armed robbery, cyber crime depends on the concerted effort of all major stakeholders namely government, educational and religious institutions, private sector, the communities and families, traditional rulers, donors and the youth", he said.

Mr. Kobina Afena-Sam, Brong-Ahafo Regional Youth Coordinator, said the forum was to provide the youth a platform to engage with policy makers and implementing agencies in their respective regions/districts what developmental agenda was in place for them and to discuss what roles they could play.

"Young people the world over are recognized as a very important human capital. Their development therefore is considered an important part of national development. It is for this reason that the national youth council was established in 1974 by the National Redemption Council decree 241 as a public statutory organization with the mandate to ensure the empowerment of the Ghanaian youth", he said.

The regional coordinator stated that the council was dedicated to the overall development, gender equity and human rights, national integration, sustainable development and international brotherhood, through the implementation of policies and programmes that provided the relevant environment for the general empowerment of all Ghanaian youth.

He called on all youth groups, youth NGOs, community-based organizations in the region to ensure that their groups were registered with the council at both the assembly and regional levels.

Mr. Afena-Sam appealed to the regional coordinating council and municipal and district assemblies to assist the youth council to acquire an office space in the remaining assemblies as the council operated in only eight out of the 22 assemblies.