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The outgoing Regional Minister for the Upper East Region, Mr James Zuugah Tiigah, on Tuesday said he had laid a solid strategic foundation for the development of the Region.

He indicated that he was inspired by the potentials in every facet of the Region and said the hue and cry about poverty in the area was a negative perception that development agents had mythically woven around the region.

Mr Tiigah said the Upper East was not that poor as most individuals, groups and institutions had over the years tried to portray, and noted that there was the need for development agents to give serious attention to the potentials in the area through conscientious mobilization of local resources.

The outgoing Regional Minister said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga. He expressed the hope that his predecessor would continue from where he had stopped to bring development to the Region.

Mr Tiigah indicated that he had prepared a complete document that looked at every aspect of the Region’s development and advised his predecessor to consider implementing the content of the strategic document to accelerate the area’s development.

He said key amongst the suggested areas for implementation was the invitation of the private sector as the engine of growth and other active stakeholders to explore already identified areas for long and short term investments.

He said he had had successful deliberations with especially international partners such as the Chinese government through its embassy in Ghana, the United Nations Development Programme, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other United Nations Agencies including the World Health Organisation (WHO) who helped to draw some key development strategies for the region.

As part of efforts to stimulate the interest of the business community, donor agencies and development partners, both local and foreign, to support in various ways to bring about the rapid development of the region, he organized several high profile meetings with all those stakeholders to brainstorm on the issue of development for the area.

Mr Tiigah expressed gratitude to President John Dramani Mahama for inviting him to serve in his government and said even though his tenure was brief, the time spent on engaging stakeholders to garner the relevant information for the Region’s proper development was worth it.

He said the region was endowed with the best forms of clay for the manufacture of various clay-based wares including burnt bricks, floor and wall tiles, artifacts, glass wares, and cement, adding that it only needed committed leadership to tap those resources for beneficial use.