General News
Disagreement
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- Details
- Published on Friday, 15 February 2013 11:55
- Written by Necus M. Andrews
...Among Lawmakers
A petition for the appearance of Youth and Sports Minister Tornorlah Varpilah at the House of Representatives over the usage of the US$15 million allotted for youth development created serious disagreement among the representatives.
The communication for the Minister Varpilah's appearance was written by Bong County Representative Lester M. Paye, Chairman of the House's Committee on Youth and Sports.
In his communication, Representative Paye asked his colleagues to invite the Youth and Sports Minister to explain the status of the money and programs being designed for implementation.
Representative Paye said the ministry's annual work plan for 2012 which was designed in line with the government's 150 day action plan, the National Youth Policy and the Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) document should have been endorsed by the cabinet and submitted to the Legislature for enactment but he said it was taking too long.
He expressed regret that these two instruments for national youth development were languishing in what he called 'space'.
He told his colleagues that it is a contradiction on the part of the Executive Branch of government to constantly pronounce youth empowerment when the instruments are yet to be submitted for enactment.
“Please be reminded that we just approved US$15 million for youth development in this country; if we do not have a clear work plan, I am afraid that the money allotted in 2012/2013 fiscal budget would be used for workshops, daily sustenance allowance (DSA),” Representative Paye said.
However, lawmakers including Representatives Byron Brown of Grand Bassa, Prince Moye of Bong counties differed with Representative Paye on grounds that it was the responsibility of the committee on Youth and sports to invite the Minister Varpilah and not the plenary.
The lawmakers challenged the committee to exercise its oversight to investigate the Youth and Sports Minister and other government officials to gather more information on the money.
