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Mr Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, the Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, says the Commission’s programme to make Ghana green within the next 10 years has begun in earnest across the country.

He said the programme, which sought to engage 15,000 youth for the tree planting project under the Youth in Agriculture and Afforestation Module, as part of a greening Ghana initiative, had been oversubscribed with more than 33,000 youth applying.

Mr Afriyie said this when the Commission took journalists round the Achimota Nursery Site to see the progress of work.
He said the Ministry of Finance had allocated six million Ghana cedis a month to pay the allowances of the 15,000 youth engaged by the Commission, which was ready for disbursement.

The Ministry of Finance is expected to fund the programme with an amount of GH¢144 million over the two-year period of the programme.

The Forestry Commission and the Youth Employment Agency, in November last year, signed a service agreement to engage 15,000 youth across the country for the implementation of a Forest Plantation Programme.

The programme, under the Youth in Agriculture and Afforestation Module, is to enable the youth to contribute to environmental and forest protection in the country.

Mr Owusu Afriyie said the enthusiasm exhibited by “the young men and women of this country are desirous of getting some employment”.