Mr Ebow Barton Oduro, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, said traditional rulers must come out with pragmatic projects and effectively execute them to mark their annual festivals as a way of bringing development to their areas.
He said it was not enough for traditional rulers to use festivals only for merry making but there was the need to undertake specific projects to enhance the development of their communities and give real meaning to festivals.
Mr Oduro, who is also the Member of Parliament for Cape Coast North, made the call on Saturday at a durbar of the chiefs and people of Oguaa Traditional Area to mark the 49th anniversary of Oguaa Fetu Afahye in Cape Coast.
The week-long celebration was under the theme: �Harnessing the Human Resource Potentials of the Youth in the Oguaa State for Effective Development�.
The MP said although festivals were meant to take stock of the past as well as bring about family reunions, it was time for people to set achievable targets and execute them to ensure sustainable growth of their areas.
Mr Oduro expressed concern about the large numbers of children who loitered around the Cape Coast Castle area and other tourists� sites on daily basis and called on parents to endeavour to enrol their children in school and ensure that they stayed in school.
He warned that the Metropolitan Assembly would soon arrest and prosecute such children and their parents in the law courts.
The MP was also unhappy that many children in the metropolis patronized video centres and also attended wake-keeping and funerals and urged parents to restrain their children from such activities.
Mr Kweku Rickets Hagan, Member of Parliament for Cape Coast South, said it was time for people to leave the Supreme Court ruling behind and unite to move the nation forward.
He gave the assurance that the government would continue to champion the course of the youth and urged them to lead meaningful lives since the future of the nation depended on them.
Mr Samuel Sarpong, Central Regional Minister, said the government was determined to undertake many projects to give a face-lift to the region.
He advised the youth to be disciplined in all aspects of life, build their capacities in order to fit into the current global market and take up leadership mantles in future.
A cross section of the youth the Ghana News Agency spoke to on employment in the area called on the government to create employment opportunities in Cape Coast to absorb the large number of unemployed youths.
Some 53 students were presented with scholarship bursaries under the Oguaaman Education Endowment Fund.
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