According to the Community Affairs Manager of Gold Fields Damang Mine, Abdul Razak Yakubu, while many people in most mining communities depend on the mine for employment, it is important to recognise that acquiring apprenticeship skills will position them to become self-employed and economically independent.

It is against this background that he urged the youth in host communities of Goldfields Damang Mine, to take advantage of the community apprenticeship programme introduced to enhance employment opportunities beyond the mine.

For instance, the Gold Fields Damang Mine, through the Goldfields Ghana Foundation, launched a $121,000 ‘Community Apprenticeship Training programme,’ in 2021.

The programme is expected to run for a two-year duration, with some 48 persons already receiving various apprenticeship training.

Mr. Yakubu, who was speaking at a review meeting, six months after the programme started, explained that the programme forms part of the interventions of Goldfields Damang Mine “to create employment beyond the mining company.”

He said this is because people depend on the mine for employment, adding that this is not sustainable given the dwindling fortunes of the mine.

“We are encouraging people to go into an apprenticeship, learn their trade so that they become employers in future.”

As part of the training, he said participants will write the National Vocational Technical Institute’s (NVTI) practical examination, to become certified.

The certification is expected to help the beneficiaries to be able to apply and execute formal contracts.