By Opesika Tetteh Puplampu
Sege, May 16, GNA — Mr Jerry John Foreigner Amornortey Mills-Nkrumah Tanihu, Ada West District Chief Executive (DCE), says he will prioritise solving the impasse around the operations of the Songor Lagoon.
He described the issue as a peculiar problem confronting the district as it remained a major natural resource in the area.
The Songor Lagoon turned into a point of controversy after 41,000 acres of its concession were leased to Electrochem Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of the McDan Group of Companies, in September 2020.
The company began its operation in January 2021 but has since faced backlash from a faction of the residents along the lagoon.
The DCE urged residents not to allow the Songor Lagoon resource conflicts to transcend generations.
Mr Tanihu, in his acceptance speech after he was confirmed as the DCE, revealed that he would meet “together with our elders, youth and women over the Songor Lagoon.”
He, however, cautioned against taking the natives of Ada for granted, as they existed before anything else, hence the need to identify themselves as one people, irrespective of their divergent views on any topic.
The DCE further disclosed that he would ensure that the various flagship programmes of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government were implemented in Ada West District to provide jobs for the youth.
According to him, the governance structure in Ghana was centred on local governance and important for the locals to be interested in what happens at district assemblies, adding that the youth must also be ready to contribute to the development of their localities instead of waiting on central government, saying, “Remember, the operative word is local governance.”
GNA
LS/CA