Land tenure disruptive - Edumadze

Cape Coast, Jul 11, GNA - The Central Regional Minister, Mr. Isaac Edumadze, on Friday called on traditional authorities to liaise with the district assemblies to ensure easy access to land, to attract investment.

He noted that the present land tenure system resulted in numerous conflicts, which does not promote development.

The Regional Minister was speaking at the inauguration of the "Congress of Central Confederacy" under the theme "Forum for Accelerated Development of the Central Region of Ghana" at Cape Coast. The Confederacy, among other things is aimed at unearthing and tapping the region's economic potentials for accelerated development. The executives, consists of eminent personalities including religious leaders and traditional rulers, with Nana Obentsi Kuma VIII, Adontenhene of the Gomoa Traditional Area as the Chairman.

Mr. Edumadze expressed concern about the effects of ethnic conflicts on development and said "the feeling that one ethnic group is more superior to the other, sow ethnic cleavages between people and must be stopped".

Mr Edumadze noted that the people in the region were poor because they have not been able to unite to fight the common cause and said, "For us to succeed in attracting investors into the region, there is the need to ensure that the necessary conducive atmosphere exists".

"No investor would invest his or her money in an area engulfed in conflict, it is for this reason that there is great concern over the numerous chieftaincy and land disputes that have bedevilled the region". He urged people in the region to unite and to contribute their quota through financing, contributing articles in the media and to lobby both foreign and local investors among other things to the region. The Minister of Energy, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, also expressed concern about the poor state of affairs in spite of the region's numerous resources and said the Confederacy, should help in reversing the situation.

He stressed the importance of education and urged district assemblies to enforce the law prohibiting children less than 16 years from selling during school hours, to improve school attendance. The Chairman of the National Commission on Culture, Professor George Hagan, who spoke on "Cultural and tourism potentials of the central region," called for the development of other tourist sites apart from the castles.

He said efforts were being made to ensure traditional rulers retained a percentage of revenue generated from museums and monuments for the development of their areas.

Dr. Edwin Amonoo of the University of Cape Coast and a member of the Planning Committee said, "The time has come for the region to wake up from its slumber and work towards its development".

The Very Reverend Peter Appiah Turkson, Catholic Archbishop of Cape Coast, expressed the hope that the confederacy would be strengthened through God's power to enable it evolve strategies for the accelerated development of the region.