District Chief Executives urged to use labour based technology

Koforidua, Dec. 11, GNA - The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, has appealed to District and Municipal Chief executives to consider the use of labour based technology in infrastructural projects in their areas to help create employment for the people. He said the labour based technology could be used in implementing projects in different sectors and that what was needed was the requisite training to ensure that their assemblies got value for their money. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo was speaking at the close of a three-day workshop on labour-based technology for District and Municipal Chief Executives and their Co-ordinating Directors in Koforidua on Thursday.

The workshop, which was organized by the Ministry of Roads and Highways, was sponsored by the International Labour Organization (ILO). He said unemployment had become a political albatross on the neck of politicians and never a day passed without people parading the corridors of power at the national, regional and district levels seeking to be employed.

Mr Ofosu-Ampofo therefore urged the participants to attach serious attention to any intervention, which seeks to create employment. He said the method was widely used by the Department of Feeder Roads in the construction of many roads in the 1990s but the policy was not sustained and urged that this time round it must be sustained. Mr Samuel Addotey of ILO said it was the aim of his organization that every worker was engaged in a decent work where the salary and the working environment would provide the pleasure and happiness that the worker desired.

Mr Richard K. Abban, Principal of the Koforidua Feeder Roads Training School, said South Africa was able to use the labour based technology concept to create 300,000 new jobs in six months. He said the use of labour based technology did not mean that the end product would be poor but could be as good as using any other method when properly executed.

Mr Abban said what was required was for policy makers to have faith in the programme and to provide resources to sustain the policy to keep people in employment. 11 Dec. 09