The Minister of Tourism, Catherine Afeku, has said the Kintampo Waterfalls will be reopened to the public on September 1, 2017. According to Madam Afeku, officials of the Ghana Tourism Authority and over 40 engineers are busy renovating the facility.
The facility was closed down for months, after a disaster at the venue killed about 20 people and injured 20 others.
Responding to questions in Parliament, the Sector Minister, Catherine Afeku, said: “Mr. Speaker, it is anticipated that work will be finalized by reopening this great fall on the 1st of September 2017, all things being equal.”
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Public Safety (BPS), wants the Tourism Ministry to publish the full details of its Safety Audit Report on the disaster.
Catherine Afeku revealed on the floor parliament on Tuesday that, the Safety Audit team assessing the incident listed poor supervision and the dereliction of public safety responsibilities, among others, as contributors to the tragedy.
Speaking to Citi News on the Safety Audit assessment, the Executive Director of the Public Safety, Davidson Akwada, said the report if made public, will create the awareness on the need to enforce safety regulations at tourist sites.
“We are asking the Minister to shift the paradigm and make this report public so that we can all look at what happened on that day and understand what should be done and what should not be done.”
Meanwhile, Madam Afeku has denied the seizure of the Kintampo Waterfalls by the Pro-New Patriotic Party (NPP) vigilante group, Invisible Forces, in the moments leading to the tragedy.
The Chief of Kyeremankoma, had alleged that tour guides at the waterfall were sacked by some supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), few months after the party came into office.
The Minister on Tuesday stated that the Municipal Assembly was firmly in control of the facility contrary to reports that the vigilante group had taken over the site without the requisite expertise to manage the facility.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
