The Okere District Assembly has set up an Okere ‘Empowerment Fund’ to support the youth in the area to acquire employable skills as well as to set up their own businesses.

The Fund supports the cost of training into all forms of Technical/Vocational skills training to address the youth employment in the area, using Technical and Vocational Skills as the focus.

This was disclosed in an interview with GNA, by Mr Daniel Kenneth, Okere District Chief Executive, at a press briefing at Adukrom in the Eastern Region.

So far, he indicated that the Fund had supported 24 youth who have been enrolled into welding, auto-mechanics, steel bending, Aluminum and Glass fabrication and Architecture training.

He said as part of the support, all beneficiaries would be provided tools for the training and start-up kits to start their own businesses after completion.

He observed that the District had instituted a number of measures to improve on the economic situation of the people especially the youth in the area by creating employment opportunities in the Tourism and Agriculture sectors.

Mr Kenneth indicated that some of the measures included the establishment of a 1,300 acre ‘Land Bank’ in the District for commercial farming to boost the Planting for Food and Jobs and Planting for Economic and Rural Development (PERD) programmes.

He explained that the establishment of the land bank was to reduce the difficulty in acquiring land for commercial purposes, particularly in the area of farming and urged the youth to take advantage of it.

The DCE also disclosed that 75 persons had been employed as field assistants under the “Youth in Forestry” programme, 32 youth as Community Police Officers, 62 youth as Sanitation Trainees and two as Youth in Sports Trainee for the District.