Regional News of Tuesday, 13 February 2007

Source: GNA

Sunyani residents express mixed feelings on anniversary celebrations

Sunyani, Feb. 13, GNA- A cross-section of Sunyani residents interviewed by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) have expressed mixed feelings on the level of participation of the Ghanaian towards the country's 50th Golden Jubilee Anniversary Celebration.

While some said much was being done to integrate the citizenry into the celebration process, others accused the government of late planning. The latter group explained that this had resulted in the late construction of some of the projects in the region. Perpetual, a businesswoman in Sunyani said she strongly felt as part of the celebration and intended to participate fully in the regional celebration at the reconstructed Kwame Nkrumah Park. She said she was delighted that products, bearing the Ghana @ 50 logo on them are flooding the markets with people patronising it as well as the numerous historic souvenirs.

She lauded government's policy on the private sector, which she said had given private enterprises the needed capital to expand. Perpetual however agreed that a lot could have been done by the government to solve the many social problems in spite of the great strides made in other sectors of the economy.

Justice Osei-Owusu, 21, a musician, also commended the government for helping musicians and also using some of their works as jingles for the anniversary.

He however called for greater efforts to incorporate the creative abilities of Ghanaian musicians into the celebrations to boost tourism. Boadi expressed disappointment over the cost of the paraphernalia of the jubilee celebration, saying if they could not be freely given to citizens, the prices could be made very affordable.

Mr. Kwame Antwi, Manager of the Sunyani Branch of Star Assurance Company, expressed the hope that the landmark projects would be completed in time for a successful celebration.