The youth of East Gonja Municipality has appealed to government to consider Salaga as the capital for the newly created Savannah Region for accelerated development.
The group said the ancient town befits the regional capital considering the endowed untapped resources as well as its advantageous positioning and opportunities over the other districts, and was best suited for the regional capital within the newly created Savannah enclave.
The group said the ancient town was well endowed with vast fertile lands for large scale agriculture production, industrial activities, and ancient’s tourist sites, water bodies suitable for transport, ports, and beaches that would generate revenue to fast-track the development of the region.
Mr Imoru Abubakari Sadique, Chairman of the youth group speaking at a thanksgiving durbar on Monday on the newly created region commended government’s commitment to creating the Savannah region and the other five regions.
He said “The connectivity of the municipality to the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo as well as the Greater Accra regions through the Eastern Corridor and Oti region, through Krachi and Dambai, would readily accelerate the development of the area”.
“Even after the separation of the Savannah from the Northern Region, we are still the largest region in Ghana in terms of land mass and this is an advantageous opportunity for large scale agricultural production to be an economic drive force”, he added.
He said “We appreciate the critical role played by our religious bodies and their support through prayers for the peaceful referendum and we urge them to continue praying for a peaceful co-existence among the diverse groups in the Savannah region”.
Mr Abubakari Sadique said, “As youth, we have a big task ahead of us and everybody within and outside the municipality must come on board to ensure the speedy development of our infant region”
He expressed gratitude to the youth of the area for their active participation in the referendum and encouraged them to take advantage of the opportunities presented, with the coming of the new region and contribute their quota towards its advancement.
The event was attended by residents within the Salaga Municipality, the general secretary and representatives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as well as representatives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The East Gonja Municipality recorded 61,239 ‘Yes’ votes in the December 27 referendum for the creation of the Savannah region.
GNA