By KETRA KALUNGA
GOVERNMENT’S move to empower youth cooperative groups with 50 fuel tankers is a solid investment, says Energy Expert Johnstone Chikwanda.
Mr Chikwanda has meanwhile called on the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) to give fuel transportation licenses to the youth cooperatives so that they could commence operations as soon as possible.
He also offered to mentor some youth cooperatives in the sector at no charge as a way of giving back to the country.
Mr Chikwanda said in an interview that the gesture from the Head of State was timely because youth participation in the energy sector was almost non-existent due to high cost investment and stiff requirements.
He said with the ongoing empowerment policy in the sector, youths would significantly benefit as they would be allocated the amount of fuel to transport.
The energy expert added that this would lead to more economic empowerment which would lead to alleviation of poverty among youths and entrenching their participation in the sector.
“Government has done a commendable job by intervening with an affirmative empowerment action without which it would be impossible for youths to actively participate in the main stream energy sector,” he said.
Mr. Chikwanda said the gesture was proof enough that Government was committed to resolving the plight of youths in the country.
He added that the empowerment was unprecedented in the country and the region to an extent and urged youths to be more responsible.
“Youths must be very grateful and ensure not to disappoint so that other youth cooperatives can also get similar empowerment in future,” he said.
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