Osabarima Antwi Agyei V, Chief of Okadjakrom and Twafohene of the Buem Traditional Area, has appealed to Government to rehabilitate roads in the Jasikan District of the Volta Region to facilitate development.

He said the bad state of roads, particularly the Hohoe-Jasikan and Baika-Teteman-Bodada-Jasikan networks, was affecting the progress of the people.

Osabarima Antwi Agyei made the call at a durbar of chiefs and people of Buem to mark their Ninth Annual Congress.

It was organised by the Coalition for Peace and Development in Buem (COPADIB), on the theme: “Mobilising the Youth for Sustainable Development” at Okadjakrom. 

Osabarima Antwi Agyei said education formed the foundation for progress, and asked Government to establish more senior high schools and upgrade infrastructure at Okadjakrom Senior High/Technical School and Baglo Senior High School to ensue the admission of more students.

He appealed to philanthropists and non-governmental organisations to assist the people to complete or rehabilitate self-initiated projects.  

Osabarima Antwi Agyei cited a three-classroom block, E.P Primary School, community library, and dilapidated community centre (farmers’ hall) at Okadjakrom as projects that had come to a standstill due to lack of funds. 

He, however, cautioned the people to avoid greed and apathy, instead, they should unite and support the traditional rulers towards the development of the area.

Osabarima Antwi Agyei advised opinion leaders from Buem to help the youth to acquire technical and vocational skills to be able to undertake economic activities.

He commended COPADIB for working with the clergy, led by the Right Reverend Gabriel Akwasi Mante, Bishop of the Jasikan Diocese of the Catholic Church, and other opinion leaders to settle a chieftaincy dispute that engulfed the area.

Mr Isaka Buraima, Chairman of the Coalition, said the northern part of the region, which included Jasikan District, was lagging behind in development and asked Government to implement more projects to change the situation.

He said: “Our clamour for a separate region is because of our desire for rapid development. The area has, for a long time, been a ‘food basket’ of the region in particular and Ghana in general.

“We also think that this would help in the realisation of Government’s decentralisation policy towards equitable distribution of national resources in line with the Directive Principle of State policy as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.”    

Mr Buraima appealed to Government to build more health facilities in the district, and lamented that the people of the eastern part of Buem travelled long distance to Hohoe to seek medical attention.

He said COPADIB would continue to mobilise the people for peace, reconciliation and development in Buem and support the youth to become self-reliant.

Mr Buraima gave the hint that the Coalition would sensitise the youth on diverse employment opportunities to prevent them from migrating to the cities for non-existent jobs.   

He said: “We have championed the distribution of cocoa seedlings to the people, especially the youth, to enable them to rehabilitate their cocoa farms to improve on their income and reduce poverty”.

GNA