Government urged to develop crafts industry to create jobs
Mr. James Adabuga, Northern Regional Director for the Centre for National Culture (CNC) has observed that the arts and crafts industry in the country holds the key to the development of the culture and tourism industry, urging the government, therefore, to give it the needed attention.
He said more jobs could also be created in the arts and crafts sub-sector to absorb more youths who were unemployed, thereby reducing the unemployment rate. He added that such attention should focus on the proper packaging, designing and marketing of local artifacts.
Mr. Adabuga who spoke to the Ghana News Agency in Tamale on Wednesday, noted that if government was much committed in implementing the patronage of ‘made in Ghana goods’, it must develop a policy direction that would include the need to promote local artisans to meet the taste and standards of consumers.
He also suggested that the cultural sector could have progressed if the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture engaged competent and knowledgeable professionals in the ministry to help give direction.
Mr. Adabugah called on policy makers to pursue a development agenda that was structurally rooted in the culture of society “This calls for a review of government policy on the cultural sector that will gear towards making it more viable and sustainable to contribute to the economic growth of the country”.
Mrs. Gladys Tang, Deputy Director of Northern Region CNC, was of the view that tourism contributed significantly to national development and that the role of the CNC in cultural tourism cold not be over emphasized since cultural practices fed into tourism.
She urged the people, especially in areas where female elopement, widowhood rights and witchcraft are believed to be high to stop such practices since they were inimical to national development.
Mr. Abubakari Iddrisu Saeed, Administrative Officer of the CNC, said the CNC in the region had entered into a partnership with UNICEF and the Ghana Health Service to use drama to sensitize the populace on the need to adhere to proper hygiene.
He urged other organizations interested in forging partnership with the CNC not to hesitate in doing so, indicating that financial and logistical constraints had been the major hurdle of the department and had largely affected its role in national development.
Source: GNA