Kenneth Ashigbey, Managing Director of the Graphic Communication Group Limited, on Thursday urged the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council to revamp the tourism sectors in the region.

The tourism sectors in the region include the Paga Crocodile Pond and the Slave Camp, the Tongo Shrine, the Kulungugu Tourist Site where a bomb attempt was made on the first President of Ghana, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the Naa Gbewaa Shrine and the Bolgatanga Craft Village.

Mr Ashibgey, who was in the region for an award ceremony for vendors, used the opportunity to pay a courtesy call on the Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Limuna Mohammed–Muniru and his deputy. He said he was amazed at the friendly nature of the crocodiles in the Paga Pond and indicated that there no where one could find such a thing.

He, however, said he was not impressed about the deplorable nature of the facilities at the tourist site and urged the Regional Minister to give priority to the development of the tourist sites in the region.

Mr Ashigbey said district assemblies in the region could rake higher internal revenue if they gave serious attention to the development of tourism in the area.

“It is high time you took advantage of this opportunity to develop this important sector instead of allowing foreigners to seize the opportunity and to leave crams for you,” he said. Mr Ashigbey entreated media personnel in the region to go beyond their duty of reporting and be part of problem-solving saying for instance that they could do in-depth reporting such as features on issues in the area.

He expressed regret about fuel being smuggled across the border to neighbouring countries for sale at the expense of the Ghanaian tax-payer and said;

“These are some of the cardinal issues you as a media personal in this part of the country should be seen reporting on to prompt government and policy makers to tackle them,” he added.

Alhaji Mohammed–Muniru, Upper East Regional Minister, assured Mr Ashigbey that the tourism sector was one of the top priorities his administration had earmarked to develop, adding that the region had many tourism potentials.

He said he was glad that the Graphic Communication Group Limited had assured the RCC of helping it to highlight the tourism potentials in the area and commended them for their support. He urged the organisation to give more space to the publications of issues pertaining to the region since it was one of the deprived areas.

The Regional Minister called on the management of the Graphic Communication Group Limited to resource its regional office with a vehicle to enable the reporters to be independent in news gathering and reporting. He entreated the management to ensure that its publications arrive in the region as early as possible.