The business community in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis have underscored the need for the government and the private sector to collaborate to provide sustainable jobs for the citizenry.
They said it was imperative that the government put in place adequate protective labour legislation and ensure its full implementation for the needed enabling environment to make it easier for the private sector to create more jobs to grow the economy.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency on the unemployment situation, Mr Roland Marte, an automobile dealer in the metropolis, said both the government and the private sector must focus on solving the unemployment issue.
He said job creation need not be viewed as creating financial wealth but rather should be about ensuring a sustainable future for humanity.
“The government needs to focus on solving the issues facing humanity. Job creation is no longer about creating financial wealth but involves ensuring a sustainable future for humanity,” he stated.
“Job creation has to do with the correct combination of both, the private sector and the government, which has to lead back to the flourishing of society as a whole and not just the private sector.”
Mr Justin Ekow Quansah, a member of the Western Regional Association of Garages, said the private sector was required to take the lead in job creation.
“Without any doubt, the job creation role belongs to the private sector, which is the only one proven to ensure performance-based competition,” he said.
Mr Frank Jim, a General Merchant, believed that some essential public services must be provided by the government.
Mr Nicolas Schmit, a hydraulics dealer, said the private sector should create jobs and the government policies that promoted investment and job creation.
“Though the question of the state’s role in the economy had traditionally been one of the big dividing lines between the political left and right, there has been some consensus across the political spectrum that low taxes, light-touch regulation and a small state were the key ingredients for economic success,” he said.
