The Minister for Labour, Jobs and Employment, Dr Rashid Pelpuo has assured the youth that his outfit is on the verge of creating jobs for them.
He said government is taking the necessary steps to create job avenues for the unemployed.
“It is good to be anxious, but don’t get frustrated because we are on our way to creating jobs of you,” he assured.
Dr Pelpuo gave the assurance while contributing to discussions on Agenda with Beatrice Adu on March 25.
According to him, the current government has been around for barely three months and the “dizzying nature of the economy” needs to be resolved before jobs can be created.
“It is not easy. In less than three months we have diagnosed the problems and we are going to resolve them,” the Minister said.
The Minister stated that appointees of the previous government have squandered money meant for national development, hence the need for patience on the part of the unemployed.
“You heard what the Attorney-General said. It’s frightening how state money has been squandered in huge quantities. ‘We are having to get the economy on its feet, we are recovering the monies that have been stolen to get the youth into situation of work,” he explained.
An Economist, Dr Peter Quartey who was a co-panelist suggested that the root cause of the unemployment is the country’s over dependence on imports.
“Unemployment is a real worry. About 14%. In order to grow, we have to develop agriculture and manufacturing. The challenge we have is our overdependence on imports rather manufacturing. The cause of unemployment is the volume of imports into the country. The more you import, the more you create jobs for those countries. Let’s consume what we produce, ” he advised.
