Job training opens door to better opportunities

SIXTY-THREE youths from the Lae Urban LLG Ward Two area were last Friday presented certificates of attainment and work references following a successful completion of a six-week job training program. The youths received training under the World Bank funded Urban Youth Employment Program (UYDP). Under the program, the Lae City Authority (LCA) and the World Bank have signed an agreement to have youths in the city trained with support of a loan funded by the World Bank.

This was the second lot of youths who were trained under the UYDP. The first lot, about 186 youths altogether, were taken from the Ward Five area in Tent City. In the second lot, two trainings were conducted simultaneously, one at Ward Two area and the other at Ward One.



LCA project engineer Ricky Aprepa and his team were on site at the Ward Two council chamber premises to present the certificates to the trainees from the area. “Your hard work has paid off and now you are receiving the certificate,” Mr Aprepa told the trainees. “Don’t go and do silly things but be role models in your communities,” he said.

Trainee spokesperson Zolaisha Sinclair, on behalf of the youths, thanked the LCA and World Bank for funding the training. Ms Sinclair said many of the youths were unfortunate citizens but the training gave them an opportunity to do something better for themselves. “This is a once is a life time opportunity for many of us,” she said.

“This training has taught us skills and knowledge that will allow us to earn a meaningful living,” Ms Sinclair said. She said 25 females were also part of the training group. While the group was training, they were also paid K5 per hour and did practical work from 8am to 4pm on Mondays to Fridays.

“We did grass-cutting, drainage cleaning, brick laying and maintenance work,” Ms Sinclair said. Following the training some of the group members will do internships with Lae-based companies while others will bridge on to undertake studies in Technical Education and Vocational Training (TVET) centres. Meanwhile, Lae MP and Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso, when introducing the program earlier, said the city has a lot of challenges including a huge number of unemployed urban youth population.

“Our focus now...

is to ensure that we assist our disadvantaged youths and give them a focus in life, a vision,” he said..