Milenge Town Council Chairperson, Clement Mwila, has bemoaned the low turn out of youths for this year’s youth day commemoration which was held at Milenge primary school.
Mr Mwila said he was disappointed that a huge number of public service workers who are youths did not attend the event.
Mr Mwila said this when he officiated at the event which was held under the theme; ‘Transforming Minds for Accelerated Youth Development’.
He has since tasked Milenge District Administrative Officer, Chola Kanonka, to caution public service workers against shunning national events.
“It is unfortunate that only school going children and a few heads of government departments have come for this commemoration. This culture should come to an end,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Mwila has called on youths to double their efforts in producing goods and services that will socially and economically improve their livelihoods.
He said youths were the major drivers of the economy hence the need to increase their levels of production.
He also urged youths to take advantage of the various empowerment opportunities government is implementing under the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Arts and others such as the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
Mr Mwila added that government is in the process of constructing a skills training centre in Milenge.
“Government is aware of the challenges youths are facing in the district regarding access to skills training. We are working with area Member of Parliament, Saka Chonde, to see to it that the construction of Milenge Trades School is resumed,” he said.
Earlier, Milenge youths representative, Elijah Ng’andwe, called on government to simplify the process of accessing funds from various empowerment programmes.
Mr Ng’andwe, who is also a teacher at Milenge Secondary School, observed that the procedure is too cumbersome for an average youth in a rural area.
He said because of the complicated procedures, some intended beneficiaries are failing to access the monies.
He also called on the local authority to put up recreation facilities in the district so as to deter young people from engaging in illicit activities.
“The lack of recreation facilities in Milenge is a contributing factor to substance abuse and promiscuity among young people. We are calling on government to address this issue in order to create platforms for acceptable social activities for young people,” he said.
