Bead producers in the Eastern Region claim they are not being given recognition despite the fact that their trade is the magnet that attracts tourists and provides employment for hundreds of people in the region. They said nothing concrete had been done by policy makers to bolster their trade although bead trading accounts for the high influx of tourists to the region. Mr Alhassan Mohammed, President of Eastern Beads Association, told the GNA at Koforidua that the government had not given them the recognition and push that would enable them expand their businesses. He said the vibrancy in the beads commerce had not been matched by the development of permanent structures to boost their trade, leaving that sub-sector in a rudimentary form. Mohammed said Jackson's Park in Koforidua where majority of bead producers and buyers transact their business on Thursdays has only temporal facilities to enable them display their wares that are at the mercy of the weather. He appealed to the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council, the New Juaben Municipal Assembly and the ministries of Trade and Tourism to collaborate to establish a cultural village for an integrated development and marketing of works of art in the region. Mr Hidrir Mohammed, beads vendor in Koforidua, shared similar sentiments as his President, explaining that although "bead selling is a big business, the authorities are refusing to develop the structures" that will ensure its growth and sustainability. "That (bead trading) is the main thing that brings tourists to Koforidua and a potential source for the development of cultural artefacts in the region to benefit the people," he said. He said current arrangements were so weak to the extent that their patrons are not able to trace them save on their designated Thursday market, which in some instances coincides with national events at the park, meaning not much trading could go on that day. "I want government to build for bead and other art sellers a place we can call our own, a beads market, not just a market." Mohammed is not the sole vendor who is at pains with the poor development of a market for cultural artefacts in the region although it is one of the areas that the region clearly has a comparative edge. Mr Okrah Tetteh and Mr Yohannes Narh, also vendors, said they are worried that the lack of concern by the government in their activities and proper regulation of the operators could kill the industry. They said they support calls for the creation of a cultural village, which could help scale-up their activities. The regulatory aspect, they explain, is to ensure that operators are not ripped-off by charlatans. They said some bead patrons in the Americas are complaining about the high content of lead in the ceramic dye, a major raw material used in the production process, and called for the intervention of the Ghana Standards Board to ensure that importers of the chemicals comply with requisite supply regulations.