The Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Northern Development Authority (NDA), Dr Emmanuel Abeere-In­ga, has reaffirmed the commitment of the authority to working closely with the traditional authorities in their operational areas in the north, to champion the development in the rural communities.He said it was only when they work with the chiefs, opinion leaders and traditional authorities that they would get more ideas to develop their communities.The Acting CEO made the state­ment here on Friday at the Nayiri Palace in Nalerigu, the North East Regional capital when he led a delegation to pay a courtesy call on the Overlord of the Mamprugu Kingdom, Nayiri Mahami Bohagu Sheriga, to introduce himself as the newly appointed Acting CEO of NDA.He told the Nayiri that he could not start work without coming to introduce himself to him officially for his blessings hence the visit.He said the blessings of Nayiri was important to every staff of the authority since his traditional area was among the operational areas of the NDA.The CEO mentioned that the North East Region which falls under the traditional jurisdiction of the Nayiri was among the five operational areas of the authority.He stated that, Upper East, Up­per West, Savannah, Northern and North East regions were the areas the authority was operating in.Dr Abeere-Inga said his main focus and vision was to ensure that he works to eradicate poverty and promote equity in the communities across the regions, to experience a positive change in their standard of living.The CEO said he could not achieve that without the support of the Nayiri and pleaded with the Nayiri to support him as they were implementing more developmental projects, including in his region.He said the Nayiri was a devel­opment traditional ruler and he was asking for his support, and together they could bring develop­ment to the people of his king­dom.The CEO also stated that the construction of the Pwalugu Multi-Purpose Dam was a priority for the government as it fits into government's overall desire to en­sure increased food production in northern part of the country."I hope and believe that as the custodians of the land, the Nayiri and other traditional authorities in our operational areas will not hesi­tate to facilitate the easy acquisition of lands for the purposes of roll­ing out development interventions for the benefit of members in their respective communities," he added.The Overlord of Mamprugu Kingdom, Nayiri Mahami Bohagu Sheriga, applauded them for their visit and assured them of his readi­ness to support them.He said as traditional authorities they were always ready to welcome any developmental projects in their jurisdictions. FROM YAHAYA NUHU NADAA, NALERIGU