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The Deputy Minister of Information, James Agyenim Boateng, says government is in the process of constructing two (2) additional fishing harbours, and twelve (12) landing beaches along the coastal belt, for fishermen, at the cost of over $200m. Speaking in an exclusive interview on �Yen Sempa�, a current affairs programme, hosted by George Yaw Okyere on Peace FM, the deputy Minister said, this move will help curtail the several reported complaints of fishes going bad during bumper harvests. According to him, one major problem affecting the fishing industry is the negative practice of pair trawling. ��to curb this development, government has procured 6 patrol boats for the Ghana Naval base�by the end of December, 2 out of the 6 patrol boats will be in,� he told Peace FM. Touching on the unemployment rate in the country, Mr. Agyenim Boateng revealed that government is spearheading a �Youth in Agriculture� (YIA) programme, in some selected districts, to whip up the enthusiasm of the youth in agriculture, so as to curb the unemployment rate. �We began in Damango in the West Gonja District of the Northern Region, where a group of about 300 youth have cultivated farm produce such as maize, soyabean, rice and other crops, on a 1440 hectares of farm land� the government is assisting them to plough the land, providing them with seedlings, fertilizers and pesticides,� he said. He continued: �Apart from Damango, about 100 hectares of land is being cultivated in the Central Region, with Komenda and Potsin, both in the Gomoa West District accounting for some 30 hectares of that land. Agona East is providing 40 hectares whiles there are some 70 hectares in the Gomoa East District.� According to him, government has set aside an amount of GH�10.7m for the YIA programme, which is currently on-going in the Northern, Brong Ahafo, Upper East and West, Ashanti and Volta Regions of the country. �A large number of dams are being re-constructed to provide irrigation to some 360 hectares of farmlands to boost farming activities in the Northern part of the country during the dry season�the Accra Plains irrigation project is also being considered which has about 5,000 hectares of land that needs to be worked on,� he added.