Similarities in traditional values strengthen cooperation — Surinamese Ambassador

The Surinamese Ambassador, Fidelia Graand-Galon, has reaffirmed her country’s commitment to deepening ties with Ghana in the areas of cultural exchanges, tourism and trade for the mutual benefit of the two countries’ peoples.

She said this at the second Tree Planting Festival of the people of Liati–Wote in the Afadzato South District in the Volta Region recently.

The envoy said Ghana and Suriname were already bonded by certain ethnic and traditional values and had similar lifestyles to explore to strengthen the bilateral cooperation.

Mrs Graand-Galon said there were already glaring similarities in certain traditions such as royalty, tribal ethics, reverence to the palaces and customs which testified to the fact the “we are actually one people”.

Libation

For instance, the people of Suriname pour libation to the ancestors and before they do so would say ‘agoo,’ adding there were seven ethnic languages in Suriname.

Apart from that, the ambassador said, Ewe words such as kpedevi, atuu and woezor were daily words used among the people of Suriname.

Touching on the days of the week, she said a girl born on Monday was called Madzo, which was similar to Adzo.

She mentioned Liati-Wote as a community which bore identical features with some communities in her country, adding that the two countries produced the same foodstuffs and ate the same types of meals.

“We now need to rewrite our own authentic history and relate as brothers and sister from the same background,” she told the gathering.

Lucrative venture

Mrs Graand-Galon said a strong collaboration between the two countries in areas of art and fashion would definitely be a lucrative venture.

During the tree planting exercise, she said, Ghana and Suriname had the same flora and fauna.

The District Chief Executive, Manfred Tawiah, commended the people of Liati-Wote for their reverence for the environment.

The Volta Regional Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Paschal Agbagba, said the disaster caused at Liati-Wote earlier this year by rainstorms pointed to the need to plant more trees in the already forested community, and also nurture them to serve as wind shields and protect the environment.

The Regional Customer Service Officer of the Forestry Commission, Tordey Gershon Amaglo, said the commission was pursuing a programme to plant 300,000 trees in the region before the end of this year.

The Dufia of Liati-Wote, Togbe Kodadza V, renewed his appeal to the government to take urgent steps to improve on the cellular communication network in the area to boost its tourism industry and rehabilitate the roads leading to the community to open it up to businesses.