23 Feb 2014

Ninety-one young (91) people were funded by the Youth Development Fund (YDF) in the Tonota North constituency since 2005, the Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture Mr Shaw Kgathi has said.

He said 21 people were funded under the Out of School Youth Grant from financial year 2005/06 to 2008/09, and the remaining seventy assisted within the YDF from 2009/10 to date. Responding to a parliamentary question from the Member of Parliament for Tonota North, Mr Fidelis Molao on Thursday, February 20, Mr Kgathi said out of the 91 projects, 70 were still operational whilst 20 had collapsed.

“The unfavourable market conditions, lack of operating space as well as lack of commitment on the part of the beneficiaries have tended to account for the reasons why some youth projects have collapsed,” said the minister. He said the turnaround time for approving projects was 90 days provided applicants meet all the requirements. He however admitted that this turnaround time was not satisfactory and to address the situation, project appraisal and adjudications were now being done on monthly basis.

“This should reduce the turnaround time to about 30 days. My ministry has also intensified pre-funding capacity building activities to improve on the quality of project submissions from the youth,” said Mr Kgathi. MP Molao had asked the minister to state the number of young people who benefitted from the YDF in the Tonota North constituency from 2005 to date, the number of operational projects, and turnaround time for approving project requests. ENDS