Incoming Upper East Regional Minister urged to woo more investors
Mr Mark Woyongo, outgoing Upper East Regional Minister, at a handing over ceremony held in Bolgatanga, charged his successor, Dr Ephraim Avea Nsoh, to woo more investors in the region.
The outgoing Regional Minister, now the Minister of Defence and Member of Parliament for Navrongo Central, told his successor that the region was endowed with a lot of natural resources that investors could make good use of to develop the area.
“There are large tracts of land for agriculture production. There are also abundant mineral deposits including gold, bauxite, granite and clay among others that foreign investors could help tap to accelerate the development of the area”.
He explained that the Bawku conflict was what deterred many investors from coming to the region but said everything had been normalized and investors should not entertain fears to invest in the region.
On development, the outgoing minister said the region within four years of his administration had recorded unprecedented development projects and inspite of that people were still demanding for more development.
He asked the incoming Regional Minister to keep an eye on projects including the construction of the Pwalugu and Sesili dams which are being funded by World Bank and the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) which would serve as a multipurpose function including irrigation for farms and the generation of hydropower.
He said he had also initiated the construction of an irrigation facility at Tampane in the Garu-Tempane District with SADA and urged the new Regional Minister to make a follow-up to ensure that the project was fully executed.
“About 70 to 80 per cent of the people in the region are farmers and SADA is facilitating their activities with tractor services, farm inputs and technical services among others. If attention is paid to this sector, it will help reduce poverty”, he said.
He mentioned Talensi and Nabdam districts and Bawku as some of the flash points in the region and entreated the new regional minister to be cautious of that and ensure that all the warring factions were brought together to dialogue to deal with the conflicts.
The incoming Regional Minister, Dr Ephraim Avea Nsor, commended Mr Woyongo for his good works and said he would continue to build upon it and consult him on issues of the region when the need arose.
Meanwhile, the Upper East is one the regions that had been affected by the re-shuffle. Dr Nsoh, had however, been directed by the Presidency to go to the Upper West as the Regional Minister.
Source: GNA