Nana Odam Siaw IV, Chief of Nsuta in the Jasikan District of the Volta Region, has appealed to the government to include the area in its Eastern Corridor Road Project, to facilitate socio-economic development of the area. He said that the poor nature of roads in the area was affecting development, explaining that for instance the transportation of food and cash crops, timber and other commodities to market centres was a problem. Nana Siaw, who is also Abontendomhene of Buem, made the call at the Seventh Buem Annual Congress, organized by the Coalition for Peace and Development in Buem (COPADIB), on the theme: “Re-living the Cultural Heritage of Buem”, at Guaman at the weekend. The programme was also to raise funds for development projects and to foster peace and unity among the people. He noted that even though the district had benefited from government’s development projects, it is not enough for the exploitation of resources. He said the people are ready to partner individuals, organisations and government for the economic development of the area. Nana Siaw, who represented the Buem Traditional Council at the Congress, said “we value the opening of a vista of friendship and opportunity with the Chinese people in exploiting our natural resources to turn the area into an active economic enclave”. Nana Kumesi Bonse, District Chief Executive of Jasikan, advised the people to bury their political differences and support the Assembly for the development of the area. He appealed to Agriculture extension officers to educate farmers on modern farming methods to enable them to increase yields. Mr Isaka Buraima, president of the COPADIB, said the group was committed to assisting the people to revamp the cocoa industry in the Jasikan District, saying the group has consequently distributed 20,000 cocoa seedlings to some farmers in the area to enable them to rehabilitate and expand their farms to increase production of the cash crop. Mr Buraima expressed regret that the district, one of the largest cocoa producing zones in the country, was experiencing a decline in the production of the crop resulting in underdevelopment, poverty and the migration of the youth to urban areas in pursuit of non-existent jobs. He said COPADIB had helped in settling chieftaincy disputes in Buem and called on the traditional rulers and elders to resolve all outstanding land and chieftaincy problems, to woo investors to the area. Mr Buraima reminded them that “even though your ancestors and predecessors were applauded for their bravery and for winning wars, now you would be assessed by your ability to mobilize resources and the people to execute development projects and not the number of wars or litigations you win.” He called for the documentation of ancestral paths, cultural practices, economic and social engagements to be used as guide for future development of the area. Mr Buraima said that the Coalition had also donated 50 bags of cement to the people of Teteman and GH¢1,280 towards the extension of electricity to the Atonkor Junior High School.