The acting Upper West Regional Minister Hon. Amidu Chinnia Issahaku has called on Traditional leaders in the Upper West Region to stop negative activities hampering on the development of the region.
He made this call when he addressed the general house of the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs meeting on Friday, March 2, 2018 at the Royal Cosy Hotel in Jirapa (popularly called Jirapa Dubai).
Hon. Amidu Chinnia in his address said the destructive floods in some parts of the country lately could be largely blamed on indiscriminate felling of tress, bad farming practices and the activities of illegal miners.
He therefore called on Chiefs and politicians who endorse the felling of rosewoods to stop as it destroys the vegetative cover and the resultant effect is the uncertain rainfall pattern we experience lately. He said care must be taken by all actors in the communities and tasked traditional authorities to stop such activities that destroy the environment.
Hon. Amidu Chinnia used the occasion to appeal to traditional leaders in the Region to help release lands for the One- Village, One- Dam project which is expected to facilitate farming in the dry season and create jobs for the youth thus reducing the migration of the youth to the South in search of non-existing jobs.
He later commended the Regional House of Chiefs for organizing an interface meeting with Municipal and District Chief Executives to discuss issues relating to the development of the region. This he said would deepen the relationship between Chiefs and the Assemblies.
On his part, the President of the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs, Kuoro Richard Babini Kanton VI commended the Chief Executive Officer of Royal Cosy Hill Hotel Mr. Eric Johnson for hosting them in such a magnificent edifice and urged other well-meaning citizens of the region to emulate such examples rather than investing their resources outside the Region.
Kuoro Richard Babini however bemoaned the falling standards of Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) performance in the recent past. He called on traditional authorities to periodically visit schools to motivate both teachers and pupils as a means to reverse such falling standards and improve on the performance of candidates.
He urged the District Assemblies to collaborate more with traditional leaders to develop innovative ways of partnering with the private sector to explore the opportunities in their respective areas that will create jobs for the teeming unemployed youth to propel development.
Kuoro Richard Babini Kanton pleaded with Government to scale up financial assistance given through the Medium and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) to traders, farmers, fisher folks and the entrepreneurial youth to enable them engage more in businesses that would improve economic activities in the Region.
He cautioned all and sundry to stop the indiscriminate disposal of waste in drains to avert flooding as we enter the rainy season.
Present at the general meeting were the Municipal and some District Chief Executives from the Region.
