Zuugah Tiigah to bring fresh ideas to project UER

Mr James Zuugag Tiigah

Mr James Zuugag Tiigah



Mr James Zuugag Tiigah
Accra, July 10, GNA – Mr James Zuugag Tiigah, Minister-designate for the Upper East Region, is set to bring new ideas to promote business and investment towards the overall development of the region.

Exhibiting confidence and poise, the accounting and tax man, described himself as a team- player, and promised to work with all stakeholders to boost agriculture, promote tourism and improve the road network in the region, if he gets the nod from Parliament to represent President John Mahama in carrying out his development agenda for the region.

Mr Tiigah told the Vetting Committee of Parliament in Accra, when he appeared before it that he would bring his experience as a public and civil servant to bear on his new managerial position, if he is made the Minister for the Upper East Region.

Mr Tiigah, until recently the Chief Treasury Officer at the Permanent Mission of Ghana to the United Nations, is among several people nominated by President Mahama in a recent reshuffle, as the Minister-designate for Upper East.

Other nominees who were also vetted by the Committee on Wednesday were Nii Osah Mills, former President of the Ghana Bar Association, Mr Aquinas Tawiah Quansah, out-going Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, as Minister-designate for the Central Region; and Mr Antwi-Boasiako Sekyere, out-going Deputy Minister for Employment and Labour Relations as Minister-designate for the Eastern Region.

When asked about protests of his nomination Mr Tiigah told the Committee that he was not aware, but however dwelt on his experience to reconcile people, and would marshal all available resources towards the resolution of conflicts in the region.

He promised further to restore peace in troubled areas, particularly Bawku, and invited people with shades of opinion, to come and work together to ensure accelerated development of the region.

He praised the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) programme, and commended President Mahama for the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer and a new board to the Authority.

Mr Tiigah promised to collaborate with agricultural engineers to develop dug-outs to ensure the availability of water for all year round agriculture, and also create a website solely for the promotion of tourism and investment in the region.

He mentioned, for example, that there is a small agricultural station at Garu, ‘the only station where you have blind people farming,’ adding that he would popularize such centres for people to see that people with disabilities can do a lot of things.

For his part, Nii Mills, designated for the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry, promised to work harder, and ensure that surveyors were given more training to properly carry out the mapping of lands.

He said he would also ensure that they had equipment, with modern office complexes to reduce congestion, as well as improve on the process for the holding of land titles.

He outlined a number of measures he will institute to address the galamsey menace when given the nod.

On his resignation as the former President of the GBA, Nii Mills stated that there was nothing dishonest about his resignation.

Mr Quansah, nominee for the Central Region, informed the Committee that the concrete works on the Cape Coast Stadium was 100 per cent complete, and what was left are the seats and auxiliary structures.

He promised to collaborate with the Hydrological Services Department and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to improve water systems in the region for the better development of Agriculture.

‘Agro processing will be one of the major drives,’ he declared.

Mr Quansah announced that the development of cold stores in Prampram, Nyanyano, Kormantse, Shama, New Takoradi and Half Assini, had been completed as part of the fulfillment of the campaign promises of the ruling NDC, adding that.it was left with the installation of transformers to make them operational.

Mr Quansah blamed the depletion of fingerlings on irregular fishing methods, such the use of trawlers which ‘sweep away’ the fishes, and the use of light and dynamite in fishing

‘I will advise the fishers to do the right thing; they should stay off fishing for a while.’

He described the occasional traffic jam in Kasoa in the Central Region, which delays travel time as a   ‘human challenge,’ and security issue, promising, ‘we’ll sit down with the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) and see how best to handle the situation.’

Mr Sekyere, the Minister-designate for the Eastern Region, who was a former Chief of Staff of the former campaign office of the late President Atta Mills, advocated a moratorium on salary increases, to arrest the increasing government wage bill.

He promised to improve on the development of tourism in the Eastern Region.

GNA

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