ACCRA ARTS CENTRE ENGULFED IN FILTH
THE Art Centre in Accra might be one of the hubs of tourism in Ghana but the sanitation situation at the place is extremely deplorable.
Part of the centre close to the art and craft market has been turned into a rubbish dump.
A mountain of rubbish stretches from that point to as far as the beach, which is now popularly known as the ‘Bola Beach.’
Mad men are seen scavenging on the dump; a ramshackle structure on the dump serves as a place of abode for one of the mad men.
A foul smell fills the air, making passers-by hold their noses while cattle and other domestic animals are constantly seen munching their way through the rubbish. Some people openly defecate in the open space while food vendors ply their trade a few meters away.
Close to the beach the smell of Indian hemp also fills the air.
Though partially walled, the dump is visible to anyone who walks into the art and craft section of the Art Centre.
A sculptor, Nii Laryea Quartey, indicated that traders from Tema Station and some market women created the dump site.
"They bring in the rubbish at the end of each working day. The stench and mosquitoes are unbearable during the rainy season and they drive our customers away,” he added.
"This place is an international market, the government must do something about the rubbish, otherwise, very soon our businesses would die,” he added.
A tourist who spoke to the Daily Graphic on the condition of anonymity said if Ghana was to increase its tourism turnover, places like the Art Centre were a serious affront to that ambition.
“There is no way people would pay large sums of money to come here only to frown on their way to get souvenirs that would plant memories of Ghana in their mind. I love Ghana but certainly not this,” she emphasised.
The Chairman of the Art and Craft Dealers Association (ACDA), Mr Abu Adamu, said in the past, there was a garbage container in the market but it had been taken away.
In his opinion, the non-removal of the garbage bin was the genesis of the rubbish dump, which attract all manner of people to dispose of their refuse at the Arts Centre.
He mentioned that there had been several attempts to get the authorities concerned to help clear the mess but all to no avail.
“We have written letters to the Greater Accra Minister, the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to get us a bulldozer. We received comments acknowledging the reception of the letters but no action has been taken yet,” he said.
"This filth is killing business because we have received complaints about it from the tourists. If this is the picture we want to create for the Arts Centre, which is famous the world over, then we are in trouble,” he added.
Mr Adamu mentioned that whenever it rained, the entire place became muddy.
He contended that before the Ghana @ 50 celebrations, the Ghana @ 50 Secretariat promised to lay concrete tiles at the place but this did not come to fruition.
An executive member of the ACDA, Mr Abdul Karim, wondered why the AMA and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) came for their taxes but could not do anything about the centre, a place representing the face of tourism in the country.
When contacted, the Acting Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Arts Centre, Mr Joseph Hagan, acknowledged the existence of the situation and said the Centre was working in collaboration with the AMA to level the place with sand they had acquired for the purpose.
Mr Edwin Owusu-Mensah, the Director of Operations of the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB), said the sanitation problems of the Arts Centre fall with the purview of the AMA, adding that the GTB is holding the land in trust for the government.
He, however, said that even though some investors had shown interest in developing the land into a hotel, the project could not yield any fruit because the investors did not show any serious commitment.
Mr Owusu-Mensah indicated the parcel of land stretching as far as the Marine Drive, close to the Christianborg Castle, was earmarked for various tourism projects.
“All the GTB is waiting for is an investor,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the PRO of AMA, Mr Frank Asante, asserted that the place was under the care of a waste management company called Mesk World and that the AMA was unaware that the company had taken away its rubbish container.
He, however, gave the assurance that a team from the Health and Sanitation Unit of the AMA would remedy the situation.
Part of the centre close to the art and craft market has been turned into a rubbish dump.
A mountain of rubbish stretches from that point to as far as the beach, which is now popularly known as the ‘Bola Beach.’
Mad men are seen scavenging on the dump; a ramshackle structure on the dump serves as a place of abode for one of the mad men.
A foul smell fills the air, making passers-by hold their noses while cattle and other domestic animals are constantly seen munching their way through the rubbish. Some people openly defecate in the open space while food vendors ply their trade a few meters away.
Close to the beach the smell of Indian hemp also fills the air.
Though partially walled, the dump is visible to anyone who walks into the art and craft section of the Art Centre.
A sculptor, Nii Laryea Quartey, indicated that traders from Tema Station and some market women created the dump site.
"They bring in the rubbish at the end of each working day. The stench and mosquitoes are unbearable during the rainy season and they drive our customers away,” he added.
"This place is an international market, the government must do something about the rubbish, otherwise, very soon our businesses would die,” he added.
A tourist who spoke to the Daily Graphic on the condition of anonymity said if Ghana was to increase its tourism turnover, places like the Art Centre were a serious affront to that ambition.
“There is no way people would pay large sums of money to come here only to frown on their way to get souvenirs that would plant memories of Ghana in their mind. I love Ghana but certainly not this,” she emphasised.
The Chairman of the Art and Craft Dealers Association (ACDA), Mr Abu Adamu, said in the past, there was a garbage container in the market but it had been taken away.
In his opinion, the non-removal of the garbage bin was the genesis of the rubbish dump, which attract all manner of people to dispose of their refuse at the Arts Centre.
He mentioned that there had been several attempts to get the authorities concerned to help clear the mess but all to no avail.
“We have written letters to the Greater Accra Minister, the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to get us a bulldozer. We received comments acknowledging the reception of the letters but no action has been taken yet,” he said.
"This filth is killing business because we have received complaints about it from the tourists. If this is the picture we want to create for the Arts Centre, which is famous the world over, then we are in trouble,” he added.
Mr Adamu mentioned that whenever it rained, the entire place became muddy.
He contended that before the Ghana @ 50 celebrations, the Ghana @ 50 Secretariat promised to lay concrete tiles at the place but this did not come to fruition.
An executive member of the ACDA, Mr Abdul Karim, wondered why the AMA and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) came for their taxes but could not do anything about the centre, a place representing the face of tourism in the country.
When contacted, the Acting Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Arts Centre, Mr Joseph Hagan, acknowledged the existence of the situation and said the Centre was working in collaboration with the AMA to level the place with sand they had acquired for the purpose.
Mr Edwin Owusu-Mensah, the Director of Operations of the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB), said the sanitation problems of the Arts Centre fall with the purview of the AMA, adding that the GTB is holding the land in trust for the government.
He, however, said that even though some investors had shown interest in developing the land into a hotel, the project could not yield any fruit because the investors did not show any serious commitment.
Mr Owusu-Mensah indicated the parcel of land stretching as far as the Marine Drive, close to the Christianborg Castle, was earmarked for various tourism projects.
“All the GTB is waiting for is an investor,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the PRO of AMA, Mr Frank Asante, asserted that the place was under the care of a waste management company called Mesk World and that the AMA was unaware that the company had taken away its rubbish container.
He, however, gave the assurance that a team from the Health and Sanitation Unit of the AMA would remedy the situation.
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