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31.10.2006 General News

Aliu Works Magic

By chronicle
Aliu Works Magic
31.10.2006 LISTEN

The vice president, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, last Friday, October 27, defused the tension, which was mounting between the Yilo and Manya Krobo traditional authorities. Chiefs and people of these two traditional authorities have recently been struggling over the ownership of the Odugblashe Mountain, thereby creating a serious tension between them.
But the vice president has asked the residents within the two traditional boundaries to remain calm awaiting a committee which was set up to go into the matter and will soon submit its report which he believes will put everything to rest.

The occasion was the annual Ngmayem festival of the chiefs and people of Manya Krobo Traditional Area MKTA, at Odumase Krobo.The theme for the celebration was universal education, keystone to development in Manya Krobo.

Odugblase village or mountain, until recently was a very quiet farming area where citizens of both traditions have been farming extensively. Not long ago it was detected that the mountain has a large deposit of minerals, making it possible to mine the limestone that contains rich clinker, a good source of material for the manufacturing of cement.

Both sides were very grateful to God for having deposited the mineral in the mountain area, which when mined will create jobs for the unemployed youth as well as bring development to the Krobo area since it has no big industries there.


However the relationship between the two sides started growing antagonistic, when the mining was started by GHACEM and the issue of payment of royalties generated dispute over ownership of the mined area, which both traditional authorities are claiming.

Alhaji Aliu Mahama, stated that it was heartwarming to learn that the Konor of MKTA, Nene Sakite II, had extended invitations to investors to establish industries in the area. He reminded them that investors would only invest where there is relative peace and tranquility.

"Land litigation drives away prospective investors whiles chieftaincy disputes and communal violence breeds insecurity which leads to capital flight" he reminded them.

The vice president urged the chiefs and their subjects to be considerate when negotiating with investors on the acquisition of land, particularly for agricultural purposes and light industrial purposes. He further urged the chiefs to consider releasing parcels of land to the district assembly to be held in trust to serve as land banks for such purposes, whiles government on its part continue to provide the necessary infrastructure for development.

In connection with this, he mentioned various interventions designed to accelerate development in the area such as five town development projects currently sponsored by the German government to transform the lives of people there.

Additionally, he mentioned the ongoing town roads project being executed in the district capital and Asesewa at a total cost of nine billion cedis.

Commenting on the poor performance of pupils in the district, the vice president said it was bad to learn that a number of schools have persistently scored zero percent at BECE level. He tasked the traditional authority to set up a committee in collaboration with the district assembly and district directorate of education to identify the factors causing the unfortunate trend and address it.

He further suggested that as a matter of urgency, the district assembly should sponsor suitable candidates from the area into teacher training colleges and when completed be made to sign bonds to serve the area for a specific period.

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