Contractors Must Engage, Train Young Professionals On Big Push Projects - Roads Minister

The Minister for Roads and Highways, Governs Kwame Agbodza, has charged contractors executing projects under government's Big Push programme to intentionally engage and train young Ghanaian professionals.

According to him, the initiative should not only focus on expanding the country's road network but also serve as a platform to create sustainable jobs and groom the next generation of engineers and technical experts.

Mr. Agbodza gave the directive during an inspection tour of ongoing road projects, where he said government will assess contractors based on how many young professionals they bring on board, with emphasis on female engineers.

"One of the things we are going to try to measure is how many young engineers, quantity surveyors and others you have deliberately brought on board. Because we want this activity to build the new cohort of engineers, especially those that are female. We want to see a combination of both men and female engineers on site being trained whilst we build these," he said.

He stressed that building a strong base of local professionals is critical to sustaining Ghana's infrastructure agenda when the current generation of engineers exits the scene.

"Tomorrow we may have to be out, and a new generation of engineers and others must be trained and ready to take up from you," the Minister noted.

Mr. Agbodza said government will be keenly monitoring the employment and training component of the Big Push programme, and contractors' performance in that regard will be reviewed during future site inspections.

"We want to make sure when we come to the site, we identify that Big Push is also contributing to sustainable employment, especially for young people," he stated.

He assured that the issue of youth engagement and training will be a key indicator in subsequent assessments of the projects.