According
to the Union, the long delay in posting the over 500 Environmental Health graduates
is a waste of State resources invested in training the students “because they
are not employed to contribute their quota in improving the environmental
sanitation in the cities, towns and villages”.
General
Secretary of LGWU, Joe Boahen, has passionately appealed to the Minister of Local
Government and Rural Development and other concerned ministries to make a
definite public pronouncement on the fate of graduates.
“We
must emphasize that the situation does not speak well of Ghana’s status as an
emerging middle income country, because there was no clear policy as to when
these Environmental Health officers will be given their appointment letters. In
case their services are not needed, then it would be better to suspend the
training of more students so that they do not add onto the number of graduates
currently at home,” he said.
Mr.
Boahen says the resources committed into the training at the Schools of Hygiene
should not go down the drain.
“The
clarion call on Ghanaians to change attitude in keeping clean environment to
help reduce the incidence of malaria and other preventable ailments cannot
bring about the desired result, when the country appears to be wasting valuable
human resource because graduates of the Schools of Hygiene have remained unemployed,”
he emphasized.
The
LGWU sees the development as a great disservice to Ghana since no meaningful development
can take place in an environment of filth.
The
School of Hygiene graduates have however been asked to exercise restraint while
the issue of delay in their employment is being addressed.
“The
union will do its best to champion their interest, so they should not do
anything that will undermine any negotiation to find permanent solution to
their unemployment issue”.
Story
by Kofi Adu Domfeh
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