Mrs Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, the outgoing Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Friday performed a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of gari and oil palm processing factory in Huni-Valley of the Prestea Huni-Valley municipality.

The project, being funded by the Minerals Development Fund, is estimated at the cost of GH¢500,000.00, and would be completed within four months.

About 50 women who were hitherto engaging in illegal small-scale mining would be constituted into cooperatives to process gari and palm oil at the mini-factory.

At the sod-cutting ceremony at Huni-Valley, Mrs Oteng-Gyasi said government was determined to provide alternative livelihoods for people in mining communities who were previously involved in illegal small-scale mining.

She said every effort would be made to market the products from the factory in order to enhance their income.

Mrs Oteng-Gyasi, also the Member of Parliament for Prestea Huni-Valley, said government had recruited former artisanal miners into Youth in Afforestation programme, who had been planting palm seedlings, which would be distributed to farmers for cultivation as source of alternative livelihoods for them.

Meanwhile, Mrs Oteng-Gyasi, the Minister-designate for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, joined chiefs, queens and people of Huni-Valley to celebrate this year’s United Nations International Women’s Day.

She admonished young girls in the area to take their education seriously and take advantage of the free compulsory primary education and the Free Senior High School policy in order to become responsible adults in the future.

She bemoaned the high teenage pregnancy among young girls in the area and believed pursuing higher education would curtail the teenage pregnancy menace.

The Minister underscored the need for parents to pay extra attention on their children and offer care and guidance to enable them to achieve great laurels.

Nana Kwabena Amponsah IV, the Chief of Bosumtwi, for his part, said it was uncivilised for a man to beat up a woman and asked men to refrain from any act of domestic violence against women.

Nana Ama Saara, the Queen Mother of Subri Traditional Area, commended the country’s industrious women for managing their homes well and raising children and, thus, asked their husbands to support them.

Source: GNA