NPP Blotted NYEP Pay Roll

Information available to The Daily Democrat indicated that the previous NPP Government blotted the National Youth Employment Programme to the extent that even registered people who have exited long ago still went to the Banks to cash monies as NYEP employees leading to a situation where the pay roll kept on changing from month to month. This was disclosed The Daily Democrat in an exclusive interview with the National Coordinator of the National Youth Employment Programme, Hon. Abuga Pele, who revealed that the NYEP has been blotted and that they have to get rid of the blotted register, adding that even people who have moved to other places of work, still come to cash monies from the banks in the name of NYEP employees. He voiced out that in order to clear the mess attached to the programme and introduce monitoring, all the Regional Coordinators have to be well resourced. Hon. Abuga Pele revealed that when the realized that before the National Youth Employment Programme could succeed, it would have to be de-politicized, disclosing that the NYEP is a two-year programme and any attempt to pretend that it is not would only lead to serious problems for the youth of this country. He however revealed that it is because of the two year duration that they have introduced the Exit Plan, saying before, that they needed to restructure the programme to make it amenable to some of the exit plan introduced and also improve its monitory for people to know that it is a serious programme. The National Coordinator of NYEP assured that his outfit would provide motor-bikes to the District Coordinators and also provide the Regional Coordinators with vehicles to ensure effective monitoring. Again, they would make sure that every District office gets computers so that beneficiaries recruited would be put on a data base for them to know the number that were exited. He stated further that a larger number of youths to be recruited would not be on pay roll but would be on trade, vocation and agriculture and support to set up their own ventures to become an independent business entity and not a burden on government or anybody. Hon. Abuga Pele also emphasised that majority of the youth in the country have not got higher qualification, explaining that one the part of graduates and those with good qualifications, the programmme would place them in the Security Services and other organization like the IRS, VAT etc. he disclosed that soon after the two years, through the understanding with the organisation, they would be absorbed. According to him, they would ensure that the programme is engaged in legislative backing, pointing to the fact that, Funding Agencies, because it has no legislation, refuse to pay for salaries and instead use it for their core business which always lead them into arrears. He mentioned that next year, 11,000 youth would be recruited to undertake dressmaking, 5,000 for mobile phone repairs, 20,000 to the Security and other models all numbering 44,000, saying under the Youth in Agriculture module, about 50,000 have been recruited but hope it would by next year rise up to 150,000. The national Coordinator however revealed that those to be on their pay roll would be from 30,000 to 40,000.