Accra, Dec. 8, GNA - The Ministry of Youth and Sports, on Thursday said it was negotiating a debt re-scheduling with the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) to pay debts accrued to the bank as a result of beneficiary allowances and management fees paid by the ADB on behalf of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP).

The Ministry, in accordance with the new arrangement, would make monthly payment of one million Ghana cedis to the bank until the debt is completely paid.

The NYEP owe the ADB 34.6 million Ghana cedis, which include 10.6 million Ghana cedis for five months unpaid salaries and 24 million Ghana cedis as management fees from August to December, this year.

Mr Clement Kofi Humado, Minister of Youth and Sports, who disclosed this at the Meet-the-Press series in Accra, said the Government had also proposed to take over the NYEP indebtedness to the ADB, to prevent further increases in the amount owed through the payment of management fees.

He said the Ministry was also embarking on a head count to ascertain the actual number of beneficiaries of the programme and pay all the allowances that had accumulated by the close of December 2011. The Sector Minister said the Government had approved an increase in the Communication Service Tax (CST) for the NYEP from 20 per cent to 60 per cent leading to an additional four million Ghana cedis to the programme, which had brought great relief to the NYEP.

Mr Humado said, the NYEP, which was developed to tackle youth unemployment, had now recruited 232, 910 people, which was double the recruitment level of 108,000 as at the end of 2008.

He noted that the significant success chalked out was largely due to the expansion of modules and changing policy focus of the programme from traditional modules, which had more pay implications to the self employment modules. Mr Humado announced that 14 new modules had been added to the existing five as at 2008, which included trade and vocations, youth in film making, whilst youth in security now included fire service, prisons and airport security. He said 5,000 young people were currently undergoing training in Oil and Gas Training Module at the Management Development and Productivity Institute to enable them to take advantage of opportunities envisaged in the emerging industry.

Mr Humado said the Ministry had developed a compressive exit plan, which would ensure that beneficiaries leaving each of the modules under the programme after two years would be supported to obtain permanent employment or pursue further education. “The exit plan will enable beneficiaries of skills and vocational training modules to be set up with a package of tools and equipment, whilst some will be linked to credit and savings scheme to enable them transit smoothly into self employment after their training,” the Sector Minister said.