The Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ms Sherry Ayittey, has observed that for the nation to experience rapid economic transformation, there was the need to add value to the human and natural resources.

She charged the youth to enhance their knowledge in Information Communication Technology (ICT) so that they would remain relevant and competitive in this technological era.

Ms Ayittey made these observations at the launch of the free-distribution of RLG Better Ghana Agenda computer laptops to second cycle and tertiary students in Sekondi on Wednesday.

The free-laptops distribution programme was initiated by the Government, championed by the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology in collaboration with the RLG Communications.

In all, 173 laptops were allocated to the Western Region for distribution to beneficiary students.

Ms Ayittey urged the youth to use the laptops for the intended purpose, to enhance their knowledge in ICT instead of using them to watch movies and playing computer games.

"You should use the laptops to enhance your knowledge and research work so that we get ICT experts locally in order not to look outside for such expertise in the near future", she noted.

Ms Ayittey said for Ghana to be economically viable, there was the need for inclusive-development of all the relevant sectors, hence the urgent need for resourcing of the human capital for an accelerated national development.

She charged the youth to uphold the National Anthem as code of ethics to help shape the society, embracing faithfulness, honesty, boldness and fearlessness.

The Deputy Western Regional Minister, Ms Emelia Arthur, said that the National Democratic Congress campaigned on the "Better Ghana Agenda" platform, which espoused human resource investment for accelerated national development and added that the free-laptop distribution was a fulfillment of the promise.

The RLG Representative, Ms Millicent Atuguba, said that the company had formed a team across the country to respond promptly to any fault that would be detected in the laptops.

She called on their clients to report any problem relating to their machines to members of the team.**