The National Youth Authority in partnership with the Ghana Petroleum Commission has developed a program to train 1,000 local welders to provide services and support to the petroleum industry and other sectors who will require the services of professional welders.
The program which is being championed by NPA will first train and certify 500 welders who will be able to work in any country.
[contextly_sidebar id=”5GNoSQRIYVapMxjA3c0rEhy9h36E5XmF”]The Chief Executive Officer for the National Youth Authority, Emmanuel Asigiri, in an interview with Citi News at the launch of Association of Ghana Industry’s initiative, Ghana Young Entrepreneurs Roundtable on Sustainable Development Goals in Akosombo said the initiative is aimed at increasing local content in the petroleum industry.
“Currently, we have made noise about local contact taking centre stage in the industry and yet we do not have what it takes to put them there. There have been instances where these companies are looking for specific people to work with and an example is welders. Why do we say we don’t have welders to do what industry wants and these are not just any welders on the street but welders who should have a certain skill in terms of what is expected of them at the rakes where these companies operate in exploring.”
According to him, the collaboration with the Petroleum Commission is to also equip the welders with new skills which create jobs for them in the oil sector.
“These welders must have some international certification which will enable them to meet the standards needed for the job and responsibilities which will be given them and we do not have those type of welders in our country even though we have some young people doing welding.”
“The petroleum commission has taken the steps where they have started to develop the skills for these people, give them certification that even beyond Ghana they can put their expertise to bare. There are instances where these oil companies come asking that they want some people to be brought in as expatriates and do welding and the commission finds it sometimes very difficult to grant them permits because we have welders in this country but the locals do not have the needed skills.”