The Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), Malik Basintale, has announced a major boost in allowances for beneficiaries of the agency’s sanitation module, promising an increase of over 300% under a new waste management agreement.
This follows the suspension of YEA’s contract with Zoomlion Ghana Limited, which had been paying workers GH¢258, a figure widely criticised as inadequate.
“When I took office, I swore by my late grandfather’s grave that no contract would be signed to pay GH¢258. That figure is unacceptable in this modern era. In any future contract, we will not go below the minimum wage.”
He revealed that, a committee has been set up to review tenders and select a new service provider.
Basintale further disclosed that about 5,000 beneficiaries who failed to report to duty will forfeit two months of unpaid salaries.
“We have not discovered ghost names; what we found are individuals who were absent. Those at post have been validated, but those absent will lose two months’ pay”.
He added that, validated beneficiaries have already received their allowances, according to the agency.