Member of Parliament for Damongo in the Savannah Region, Samuel Abu Jinapor has touted the potential of the Region and how it is poised to contribute its quota to the development of the country.
The Region, he said, is peaceful, united, serene, hospitable and with vast opportunities and ready for Ghana as well as the rest of the world.
In a statement to highlight the impending world celebration of International Day for Monuments and Sites (World Heritage Day), which falls on 18 April, Hon. Abu Jinapor said the world needs to know what the nascent Savanna Region, its historical and contemporary contribution to the political and socio-economic development offer in this Heritage Month.
Mole National Park
The Region, he said, hosts numerous tourist sites worth mentioning including the 4,577 square km Mole National Park located in the Damongo Constituency.
“The Mole National Park is home to more than 93 mammal species, including Elephants, Buffalos, Kobs, Western Hartebeest, Roan Antelope, Defassa Waterbuck, Oribi, Bohor Reedbuck and Red-flanked Duikers; and rare and endangered species including the Yellow-backed Duiker, Black and White Colobus Monkeys, Leopards and Lions.”
“The Park is also home to some 334 bird species, 33 reptiles, 9 amphibian species, and some 120 butterfly species. Mr. Speaker, every Member of this House, and indeed, every Ghanaian, should make it a point to visit the Park at least, once a year, to enjoy the serene atmosphere of the Park,” he said in Parliament on Wednesday, March 16, 2022.
According to him, besides the Mole Park, there are other exciting tourist sites like the ancient Mosque and Mystic Stone at Larabanga, the Hippopotamus Sanctuary at Ntereso, the Slave Market and Wells at Salaga, the Ndewura Jakpa foot-prints site at Akamade among many more interesting sites.
Investment opportunities
Hon. Abu Jinapor, who is also the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources noted that the Savannah Region also presents a lot of investment opportunities.
According to him, the Agro-ecology of the Region, and the flat and gentle undulating nature of the land with tracts of lowland fertile valleys, such as the Katanga valley in the East Gonja Municipality, part of the Fumbisi valley in the North Gonja District and the Oti river basin, make the Region suitable for large scale commercial and mechanized agriculture.
“A wide range of arable crops such as maize, millet, rice, yam, and cassava; cash crops, such as cotton, sugar cane, shea nuts, mango and cashew, as well as forest plantations, like Rosewood, thrive in this Region.”
“Already, the Forestry Commission is investing in Rosewood Plantations in Buipe and Bole and I call on the private sector to take advantage of such investments opportunities,” he said.
He disclosed the Region also hosts vast deposits of limestone, stretching from Buipe to Fufulso in the Central Gonja District; gold and other precious metals, between Bamboi and Tuna in the Bole District, including the famous “Dollar Power;” and Barite and Brine in Daboya in the North Gonja District.
He added that there have also been explorations for hydrocarbons within the Volta Basin in the Central and North Gonja Districts.
Inland Port
The region, he said, offers an opportunity for an inland port at the Debre area of the White Volta in the Central Gonja District, which is being developed currently to facilitate cargo movement to landlocked Sahel countries.
“Buipe and Yapei in the same district are already being used for that purpose. While Buipe is being used for the transportation of petroleum products, Yapei is being used for cement transport,” he added.
Gratitude
The Minister averred that the youth of the Savannah, who constitute the future of the Region is determined to construct the infant region into an oasis of progress and prosperity.
He expressed the gratitude of the Chiefs and people of the Savannah Region to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for delivering on his promise to create the Region.
The struggle for the new Region, he said, dates back to the reign of Yagbonwura Mahama Abudu Kurabaso, the then Overlord of the Gonjaland in the 1980s, and, therefore, came as a major relief when the Region was finally created.