President John Mahama has disclosed that oil and gas exploration will soon begin the Volta Region.
He has thus assured the residents that government is assiduously working to give them their share of the national cake.
The President made these remarks when he joined the people of Anloga in the Volta Region to celebrate their annual Hogbetsotso festival over the weekend.
According to Citi News’ Volta Regional correspondent, King Norbert Akpabli, the President stressed that the region will not be left out of the national development agenda especially when it has untapped natural resources.
He promised to make the region, the hub of food production in Ghana by financing rice and salt mining, while attention will also be given to the oil and gas exploration at Keta.
[contextly_sidebar id=”f4oxy7iMgoxAmXif8XR7ob0w1vOqQtDr”]The President expressed the hope that these projects will help create employment for the residents, adding that “an important aspect of progress is economic activity.”
He said the legislation for the Keta Development Authority which was previously being spearheaded by the late Sir P.V. Obeng is being prepared and will soon be placed before Parliament to allow oil exploration to begin in the area.
He added that the project is currently being supervised by his Special Advisor, Dr. Nii Moi Thompson.
Major initiatives in aquaculture and shrimp farming is also set to begin and the President was certain that “when this programme starts, it will encourage a lot of the youth in this area to participate in this profitable venture and it will change their lives and improve their incomes.”
President Mahama added that the government is expanding rice production in southern Volta and expressed satisfaction that the region “is beginning to become the hub for rice production.”
He implored the chiefs to mobilize the residents to get involved to ensure that the lands which have been acquired for the project will be properly utilized to boost rice production “to feed the whole of this country and even for export.”
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @osamidan