Government is carrying out safety audit on the Kintampo Waterfalls, in the Brong Ahafo Region, and all other tourist sites in the country, to ensure that they are safe for revellers, Tourism Minister, Mrs. Catherine Abelema Afeku, has announced.
According to the minister, the audit has become necessary to assure merry makers of their safety, following the tragedy at the Kintampo Waterfalls a couple of weeks ago, which claimed 19 lives.
Mrs Afeku was commenting on a statement made by Kintampo North Member of Parliament, Mr Kwesi Etu-Bonde yesterday in Parliament, on the need to ensure that proper safety standards were adhered to, at the country’s tourist sites, to avert any tragedy.
The MP in his statement asked that a full scale investigation was instituted into the incident, preventive measures put in place to keep the country’s eco-tourism sites safer, as well equip hospitals to be able to timeously deal with emergencies as some of the victims of the recent Kintampo disaster had to be rushed long distances to have medical care.
Mrs Afeku said efforts were being made to return the waterfall, which has since been shut down, to its glory days.
She said, the contribution of tourism to the country’s economy demanded that tourist sites were audited to re-engender trust into revellers on their security.
Mrs Afeku said a team had been put in place to investigate the circumstances, which led to the tragedy to enable government take steps to prevent its reoccurrence.
She asked Ghanaians not to be deterred by the Kintampo incident, saying it was a weather-related accident, which could have been avoided if state agencies were properly resourced to predict the storm that caused the tragedy.
Mr Etu-Bonde entreated the relevant authorities to renovate the Kintampo Waterfall site, as well as recruit qualified personnel to manage the place, as a way to rebrand the site to attract more revellers to generate revenue for the Kintampo District Assembly.
Kintampo South MP, Ms Felicia Adjei asked the Tourism Ministry to collaborate with the various assemblies in the country, for the proper management of tourism sites.
The MP said visiting the site after the tragedy; she observed that there was the need to cut some trees which pose danger to revellers.
By Julius Yao Petetsi