Togbuiga Delume VII, Fiaga of Ve, says the Area plans to promote and market its tourism potential for development and economic growth.
He said the Volta region and the Afadzato South district were blessed with great tourism sites with an equally rich and colourful culture.
Togbuiga Delume, in an address read on his behalf by Togbui Akoto VII, Ve Miamefia and Chief of Ve Agbome, during this year’s Ve Lukusi Dodoleglimeza, said it was time to examine ways to take advantage of the natural resources and the rich culture as means of creating a livelihood.
Togbuiga Delume said that was why the Lukusi Planning Committee chose the theme for the year; “Harnessing Tradition and Culture for Economic Development.”
He said the new approach was to create sustainable jobs and businesses, which before had remained unexplored.
Togbuiga Delume said the Planning Committee would embark on a campaign to promote and market tourism and culture as the new vehicle to grow the local economy and to advance social development in Ve and Afadzato South.
He said while seeking to attract investment in the tourism sector to the traditional area and the district, he implored the government to complete the Eastern Corridor Road project.
Togbuiga Delume called for a peaceful, safe and friendly environment to attract investors and visitors to the area.
“This is not the time for us to involve ourselves in family fights, land conflicts, and chieftaincy disputes. These are matters that invariably frighten people away and give a bad name to any locality.”
Togbuiga Delume said since tourism promotion was also a pet project of the District Chief Executive, it was his hope that with his support and the renewed energy of the Planning Committee, they could make some strides in that direction.
He called on all in the Area to cooperate with one another to settle their differences and allow clear heads to determine what is said and to be done.
The celebration, marked annually, is to commemorate the escape of the Veawo as Lukusiawo (the people who opened the wall for all to escape) from the tyranny of King Agorkorli, which earned them the present name, Ve Lukusiawo.
Mr Daniel Kwame Adzogble, Board Chairman, Ghana Railway Company Ltd, on behalf of Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, commended the people of the Area and extended his felicitations to them.
He said there was the need to ensure the maintenance of peace and security since the subregion was under threat from terrorism and its related activities.
Mr Adzogble said he had taken note of some issues raised such as the Eastern Corridor Road project and would relay it to the Vice President.
Professor I.J. Kwame Aboh, Immediate Past President, Ve Lukusi Improvement Society, noted that their towns were becoming “ghost towns” because of the absence of jobs.
He said young, able-bodied men and women continued to move to urban areas in search of “better life” and non-existent jobs.
Prof Aboh said at the same time, they were seeing an increased influx of non-Ve citizens into the area, adding that if the trend continued, they might soon become the minority residents.
“We are also selling our lands indiscriminately, instead of leasing them, thereby depriving future generations of a place to call their own. If these issues are not carefully handled, we could end up with huge conflicts over land and other issues in the future.”
Mr James Etornam Flolu, Afadzato South District Chief Executive (DCE), said there was the need for the Area to market the festival due to its significance.
He said there were development projects ongoing in the district, including the construction of an Agenda 111 hospital project to enhance quality health delivery.
Mr Flolu said there was approval for the construction of a District Tourism Centre to serve as an information centre on tourism in the district and places of accommodation for tourists and other events.
He said an office for the District Education Directorate would soon be constructed while an ongoing construction of three boreholes in Ve Golokuati to ensure access to potable drinking water and to reduce cases of typhoid and cholera was completed.
Mr Flolu said the government would do everything possible to see to the completion of the Eastern Corridor Road since it was at the heart of the President and his Vice.
