Media practitioners must help project Upper East — Bukari

The former Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Rockson Bukari, has called on media practitioners to help project the potential of the region through their reportage in order to woo investors to the area.

Refering to the media as "makers of modern minds," the former minister noted that it was important for the media to set an agenda to educate the people to understand issues that would bring about accelerated development of the area.

Mr Bukari stated this during a handing-over ceremony of the administration of the region to the Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Frank Adongo Fuseini, at Bolgatanga last week Friday following the recent reshuffe of some ministers in the government by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Mr Bukari is now a Minister of State designate at the office of the President, while Madam Paulina Tangoba Abayage is the Upper East Regional Minister designate.

She is Ghana’s immediate past Ambassador to Italy.

Defunct

The outgoing minister announced that a number of investors had come to the region to assess the possibility of helping to revamp some of the defunct factories, including the Pwalugu Tomato Factory.

He also announced the government's intention to provide an airport to serve the people of the region but warned against the disagreements existing between residents of Sumbrungu and Sherigu in the Bolgatanga Municipality over two proposed sites that were being technically assessed to see which of them would be suitable for the project.

While residents of Sumbrungu want the facility to be located in their town, the residents of Sherigu also want it in their town.
Mr Bukari further announced that about 1,000 houses were expected to be built to help address the housing deficits of the region.

He, however, cautioned both chiefs and Tindaanas who are land owners in the region to release land for development.

"Political colourisation has taken the good part of us and so we do not see the need to support development efforts," he stated.