TWIN-CITY RESIDENTS URGED TO SUPPORT DEV INITIATIVES (PAGE 29)

residents of Sekondi/Takoradi have been urged to support development programmes to reposition the twin-city as the best in the country.
The Member of Parliament for Takoradi, Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, made the call when he presented cartons of high energy saving bulbs and accessories to replace streetlights in the various communities in the metropolis.
The other items included sports equipment worth GH¢9,000.
He also launched an education committee and tasked it with the responsibility to select and award scholarships to needy brilliant students in the metropolis.
He said the metropolis was growing faster than expected, and that one of the things that should be taken seriously was the safety and security of residents and visitors to the metropolis.
He said although the security services were doing their best, they required certain basic services that would make it difficult for people with diabolic intentions to visit pain on their fellow citizens.
The MP said he decided to provide the energy saving bulbs and accessories for replacement and maintenance of streetlights in the various communities in the metropolis because when one drove through various parts of the metropolis one realised that security was compromised as the twin-city was only illuminated by reflections of light from residences at night.
He said other plans he had for the youth in Takoradi was to ensure that they acquired employable skills to ensure that they contributed to the socio-economic development of the country.
“If we have to reduce unemployment, there is the need to first look at equipping the youth who do not have any skills and also help those who already have skills to help others,” he said.
He said it was very important to be employable than to be unemployable. Being unemployable, he said, made one dependent on others, “therefore, my focus is to help people get skills that will help them to support themselves”.
Mr Darko-Mensah said one of the things that the youth should pay attention to was the acquisition of the requisite skills to generate income for themselves.
“There are many services that will be required by various companies that will be relocating to the city due to the oil find, and their requirements will vary from one to the other,” he said.
“If the indigenes do not take advantage of the opportunities, the corporate world will not wait for you to go and train, they will employ workers from outside the metropolis and that is not the best for us,” he said.
Mr Darko-Mensah said it was very important that apart from his support the youth should equip themselves with employable skills.
He said the call for local content in the quest to get the indigenes employed required the efforts of the local people themselves.
He expressed the hope that the items would help improve the security situation in and around the metropolis.