Tamale, April 28, GNA - President John Atta Mills on Thursday appealed to people of the Northern Region to use peace as a major tool of attracting investors to the region. He said following passage of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) act, several investors had expressed interest to invest in the region, which is the largest covering a third of the country.

President Mills said this when he addressed the Northern Regional House of Chiefs as part of his four-day tour of the region. He appealed to the House of Chiefs to amicably settle the numerous chieftaincy disputes before it to pave way for development. The President said construction of the Eastern corridor roads was important for the government, adding these roads would open up the northern part of the country for more investment. President Mills had earlier inaugurated a GHc1.4 million hostel for the University for Development studies (UDS), a biometric passport office in Tamale, a rural electrification project at Dugu in Tamale, launched the Local Enterprise and Skills Development Programme and inspected other ongoing projects.

Mr Moses Bukari Mabengba, the Northern Regional Minister, said the Region has since 2009 spent GHc49, 364,518.76 to improve roads in the region and an additional GHc1.6 million to buy eight earth-moving machines for some districts to improve roads in municipalities and districts.

Out of the total sum, Ghc17, 433,787.33 was spent on re-gravelling, routine maintenance, pot hole patching, resealing while the Department of Feeder Roads spent GHc28, 689,004.88 out of the total to improve feeder roads in the region. On agriculture, he said the region would continue to be the food basket of the nation and the sector had received a significant boost over the past two years.

He said 13,831.2 hectares had been cultivated under the block farm concept and GHc2, 621,344.86 spent on inputs to farmers. Mr. Mabengba said the region registered 1,925,948 clients for the National Health Insurance Scheme from 1,094,075, an increase of 80.25 percent and GHc36, 554,777.66 paid as claims to the scheme's providers.

He said efforts were being made to improve water delivery in the Tamale Metropolis with extension of main pipelines to over 10 communities at the cost of GHc37, 301.22. The Minister said the Forest Plantation Development Project which was launched in 2009, had yielded positive results in the region by employing 4,305 youth who had cultivated 3,309 hectares of land and a total of GHc5, 777,514.00 spent on the project. The House commended the President for the development projects undertaken so far in the country and appealed to the two gates in the Dagbon chieftaincy dispute to give peace a chance.