Central Region ready for President Obama's visit

Cape Coast, July 8, GNA - The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa- Doe, on Wednesday said all the necessary preparations had been made to receive United States President Barrack Obama.

President Obama is expected to visit Cape Coast on Saturday together with his wife Michelle and their two daughters. Mrs Benyiwa-Doe therefore asked the residents to "position themselves to take full advantage of the visit," which she said would be of immense economic benefit to the region as a whole.

She said this at a media briefing on the preparations so far made in Cape Coast towards the visit and commended the media for the hard work.

Mrs Benyiwa-Doe urged the media to continue to project the image of the region to help attract foreign investment, particularly in the areas of tourism and agriculture.

She said the Omanhene's palace had been refurbished while the Cape Coast Castle and other edifices surrounding it whitewashed with adequate security arrangements made.

On agriculture, the Regional Minister said the region had arable lands suitable for the cultivation of food and cash crops, the longest coastline that contributes about 40 per cent of the country's fish output annually, as well as vast tourism potentials which were yet to be harnessed.

Mrs Rhoda Donkor, Regional Coordinator of the Zoom Lion Company limited said her outfit had embarked on a massive clean-up campaign and provided 250 litter bins to be placed at vantage points in the town. Mr Victor Hyde, Regional Commander of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) said emergency visas had been temporarily suspended while patrols at unauthorized routes had been intensified.

Mr Kwasi Oppong, Chairman of the Security Sub-committee, said all ceremonial routes leading to the Omanhene's palace and the castle would also be closed to the public and urged residents to report people with suspicious characters to the security agencies.

A visit by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to the metropolis showed that banners, posters and other paraphernalia of Ghana's President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills and President Obama, as well as the two first ladies of Ghana and the US, Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills and Mrs Michelle Obama had been posted at vantage points.

Individuals, whose buildings are located around the routes that the US President is expected to drive along, have also renovated them. Several residents told the GNA that they were eagerly awaiting the visit of Mr Obama while some traders said they would suspend their economic activities just to catch a glimpse of him.