Alhaji Abdul Razak, Ayawaso East Constituency Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has called on parents to take proper care of their children to enable them to grow to become useful citizens.
He said the situation where some parents shirked their parental responsibilities and neglected their children contributed to the youth involvement in nefarious activities.
Alhaji Razak made the call at a forum on Tuesday to discuss the upgrading and development of the Nima and Mamobi markets and gender empowerment.
Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), a non-governmental organization is championing the upgrading of the markets.
Alhaji Razak said the constituency had started youth empowerment programmes and that about 150 people had been trained in different trades.
He called on donor agencies to come to the aid of the communities to help develop the two markets.
He also advised drivers to be careful on the roads and desist from driving under the influence of alcohol.
Mr Labran Massawudu Musah, Programmes Director of VALD, said the constituency was faced with enormous developmental challenges including poor sanitation, crime, unemployment and poor infrastructural development.
He said the two markets lacked water, places of convenience and security and that the state of the market had pushed some of the traders to sell on the streets thereby competing with cars for space.
Mr Musah expressed the hope that the upgrading of the markets would help achieve the millennium development goals.
He said the market women would have the opportunity to invest in their families and businesses for maximum benefits to improve their standards of living.