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Former minister of na­tional service and youth development Foster Cummings says the United National Congress (UNC) Govern­ment plans to close down every youth programme.

He was responding to statements by Sport and Youth Affairs Minister Phillip Watts that he had ordered an audit into the hiring of contract workers at the ministry and Watts’ description of the hiring of over 60 individuals on short-term contracts at monthly salaries ranging from $9,000 to $16,000 as “obscene”.

Cummings told the Express yesterday: “They will close down every youth programme. This is just their way of trying to tarnish the pro­gramme so they can have an excuse to close it down.