Tourism Minister Catherine Abelema Afeku has said that the ongoing Eastern Regional Theatre Complex project, will be ready to host this year's National Festival of Arts and Culture slated for November 14 to November 17. She was speaking to journalists at Koforidua during an inspection tour of the facility.

Work on the facility is 90 per cent complete. Begun in the 1960s by the Arts Council of Ghana, the facility is one of several regional theatres abandoned after the overthrow of the First Republic. Work on it was brought up to 60 per cent completion by the NPP government under President John Agyekum Kufuor when the region hosted NAFAC in year 2002.

In mid-2018, the current Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Catherine Abelema Afeku promised to add it to the list of regional theatres earmarked for completion.

To ensure its structural integrity and capacity to host major crowd pulling events, the Ministry commissioned a top flight firm of architects to evaluate and assess the 1,500 seater complex.

During her surprise inspection visit at the weekend, Stephen Sedofu, Regional Director for National Culture, told the Minister that he was more than satisfied with the progress of work.

“The contractor and his team are on the job virtually 24 hours a day, working even into the night and at weekends,” he assured her.

The media team accompanying the Minister was conducted round to confirm progress of work. The ceiling is done, complete with natural lighting from holes created in the roof to allow in light during the day to reduce dependence on electricity. Work is almost complete on the toilets, craft shops and offices. For ease of access to elevated levels of the building, a staircase has been connected from the ground floor.

To make the theatre experience complete for the audience, the curtain, dampry teaser and the stage lights are next to be fixed.

The dream of the sector Minister is that with the theatre should be able to compete as venue for the many major functions by event organizers in the region.

She suggested to the Regional Director to give particular attention to landscaping, an addition which would enable the complex to host picnics and other open-air activities to boost the centre’s internally generated funds (IGFs) and, thereby, its capacity to undertake future rehabilitations and refurbishments without recourse to government.

Catherine Afeku reiterated her ministry’s promise to complete the three other theatres at Takoradi, Tamale and Kumasi, assuring the nation of the Akufo Addo government’s commitment to mainstream arts and culture as a dynamic force for good.

NAFAC 2018 is scheduled to kick off from November 14 through Nov 17 and will be celebrated under the theme, ‘Empowering the Youth through Culture, Tourism and Creative Arts for Employment and Wealth Creation’. It will present lectures, open forums, exhibitions and performances.

The exhibitions will expose Ghanaian architecture, fabric and clothing, wood products, smithing, cuisine, food, beverages, performing arts, literary arts, visual arts, physical culture. Regional Days, led by Regional Ministers, with their paramount chiefs in full regalia, will culminate into the national celebration to be climaxed with a traditional beauty pageant and an awards night.

From the Eastern Regional capital, Catherine Afeku threw an invitation to all Ghanaians, especially the youth, to participate in the biennial event to empower themselves to create jobs in the cultural and artistic spheres.