Government secures 68m Euro for Ada sea defence wall - Veep

Ada, Aug 7, GNA - Vice President John Dramani Mahama has announced tha= t government has secured a 68 million Euro loan to construct 30-kilometre stretch of the Ada sea defence wall in the Dangbe East District of Greater Accra Region.

He said government was sourcing more funds to complete the remaining 1= 4 kilometres of the defence wall and to undertake other development projects in the area.

Vice President Mahama announced these during the annual celebration of Asafotufiami festival for the chiefs and people of Ada on Friday. He said the contractor, who would execute the contract, was currently on the project site, and indicated that President John Evans Atta Mills would cut the sod for work to commence later this year, when he would undertake a tour of the Greater Accra Region.

Asafotufiami, which literary means musketry, is a festival celebrated in memory of the fighting prowess of the people of Ada and the surrounding communities.

This year's event, which marked the 50th anniversary of the festival= , attracted patrons from both within and outside the country. Vice President Mahama said that government had also set up a committee to demarcate boundaries to help to find lasting solutions to the numerous chieftaincy disputes in the country.

He called on various traditional authorities to cooperate with members of the committee to find amicable resolutions to conflicts in their areas o= f jurisdiction.

On salt production in the country, the Vice President said a comprehensive programme was being developed to increase the production leve= l to serve as the main exporter of the commodity in the West African Sub-Region.

He said the revamping of the salt industry was in line with government's policy to develop other revenue generating activities to support agriculture, gold and recently oil and gas production. Vice President Mahama decried the high level of drifting of youth from the place to Accra, and called on the traditional authorities to team up with institutions to fight against child trafficking, which was taking a national dimension.

Nii Armah Asitey, Greater Accra Regional Minister, called on chiefs to eschew the perennial chieftaincy disputes that had stalled numerous development projects, and come out with strategies that could facilitate growth.

He said that traditional councils would be established at James Town, Teshie, La and Nungua, which are all now paramountcies in the Region. Nii Asitey expressed dissatisfaction at the alarming rate of youth movement from the place to Accra and Tema. He said most of the young people were doing so, due to lack of jobs and called on landowners and chiefs to willingly release land for them to engage in farming activities to avoid congestion in the cities.