Lawra, Oct. 16, GNA - President John Evans Atta Mills has re-echoed government's position to ensure that the country's oil find benefits all Ghanaians.

He said the benefits would be spread through the establishment of industries not only within the areas where the oil had been found but throughout the country.

The assurance was contained in a speech read on his behalf at Lawra in the Upper West Region, to mark this year's Kob-Bine Festival of the chiefs and people of the Traditional Area. He said there was therefore the need to train the people to meet the varied expertise that would be required by such industrial establishments.. President Mills urged traditional leaders to encourage the youth in this direction to help in the transformation of the country's development= efforts.

He commended the Lawra Traditional Council for its programme towards=

developing a strategic development framework to take advantage of the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority for the benefit of all. The Regional Minister, Mr. Mahmud Khalid, asked the people to use th= e festival to mobilise the people to initiate development projects in the area. He announced that the Regional Co-ordinating Council had produced a draft strategic plan on the development of the region, which was now at i= ts final stages to serve as a developmental guideline for the future. "What we need to do as a region is to focus on our potentials and re= ach out for many co-operation and assistance in harnessing our potentials", h= e said. "We also equally need to remain united and keep peace and do not all= ow our differences to result in any form of violence."

Mr. Khalid appealed to the district assemblies in the region to initiate the required plans and programmes to improve the lives of the people. He also implored the assemblies to provide proper layouts for the communities and ensure a streamlined development in all areas. He called on the people to stay together and contribute their quota= in ensuring that education, health and agriculture in the district received the desired results.

Mr. Ambrose Dery, Member of Parliament for the area, told the peopl= e to take the education of their children seriously to improve the human resource base of the district. He said his priority areas was to improve education and empowerment= of women in the district and had therefore invested his share of the common fund into these areas to help reduce poverty.