Western Region awards 40 workers on May Day

About forty (40) civil servants received awards in various forms as part of the May Day celebrations in the Western Region.

The awards ranging from Television sets, table top fridges and plaques, sought to recognize the hard work and contribution of organized labour to the development of the Region.

The global event which took place at the jubilee park in Takoradi, was on the theme, "Sustainable Development Goals And Decent Work: The Role of the Social Partners".

Addressing a contigent of organized labour at a parade, the Western Regional Minister, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie who saluted labour unions and award winners for their contribution to the socio-economic advancement of the nation, said government would continue to acknowledge the dignity and welfare of labour.

He called for efficiency of labour, quality assurance and skills development as a catalyst for the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to better the living conditions of Ghanaians.

Dr. Afriyie noted that unemployment was an affront to the dignity of an individual hence government had rolled out programmes such as the One District, One Factory project, Planting for Food and Jobs, the Nation Builder's Corps initiative to recruit the teeming unemployed youth in the country.

The Regional Minister said the President was confident that Ghanaians could be in charge of their own destiny without any reliance on the outside world and entreated the citizenry to charge their attitudes and lend the required support to the Ghana Beyond Aid policy of the government.

Dr. Afriyie said the Western Region abounds in many natural and mineral resources which would be harnessed for the development of the Region and the entire nation.

He called on the labour unions to dialogue with government for their grievances to be solved.

The Western Regional Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Mr. Samuel K. Dughan lamented that only a handful of the population had access to decent jobs and used the occasion to deplore the redundancy exercise in the Tarkwa gold mines.

He called for selfless leaders who were ready to tackle the hydra-headed problems bedeviling the nation such as corruption, indiscipline to make Gahanaians better off.

Mr. Dughan appealed to workers to change their attitudes to work such as lateness to work, laziness and indiscipline as government moves away from the IMF support to run the economy.

He called for a social partnership characterized by mutual trust between the labour front and government to spearhead the growth and development of the nation.

The Regional Chairman of TUC, Mr. Charles Thompson who chaired the function, reminded government that organized labour was a force to reckon with in the quest for an accelerated development.

Mr. Thompson admitted that Ghanaian workers were monitoring the target towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.