Communities in the Wassa East District of the Western Region have been urged to avail themselves for training to increase their chances of employment.
The Corporate Affairs Manager of Unipower Mining, Kwabena Ampim Darko explained that many mining companies have suffered attacks for denying locals employment due to their lack of skills.
He said Unipower Mines is thus interested in developing the skills of locals to make them competitive on the job market.
“We have brought job opportunities and we will employ them…However, when we came here and ask for excavator operators, we didn’t get. This means that the youth here don’t have the skills, so what we seek to do is to train them.
“We have opened our arms widely to trained them and help them know how to use these machines. It is very important even if maybe a decade, two or three after and unipower is not in existence here, they can also help in their practical lives as a community. So this is what we will do to ensuring that they don’t complain of we denying them of jobs”, he said.
On Corporate Social Responsibility, he that said their donation of 200 bags of cement, one ton of iron rod, 60 plastic chairs and five packs of iron sheets to the communities of Nsuta, Kakabo and Abetimesu within its immediate operational catchment even before Unipower starts its operations signifies its commitment towards improving citizens’ lives.
“Estimated cost of what we are donating to the communities today is around GHS50,000. We haven’t started working but exploration. All the same when we came to the community, as a people centred company, we had an engaged with the people and they expressed a need to build a teacher’s bungalow and a JHS unit as well.
“So we accepted to help to do them achieve that so the children here can graduate to the next cycle of education to have a better life hence our donation”, he added.
The Distract Chief Executive of Wassa East, Emmanuel Boakye and the Acting Chief of Abetimesu, Nana Ansah who jointly received the donated items on behalf of the people, commended Unipower for its commitment to support the youth and general community development.