Bawumia reopens Kintampo Waterfalls
The Vice President, Ahaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia on Saturday inaugurated and re-opened the refurbished Kintampo Waterfalls in the Brong-Ahafo Region and called on its managers to follow all the safety requirements to ensure the safety of patrons of the facility.
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Hundreds of people from far and near filled the outer arena of the facility, that has been provided as a car park, as early as 9.00 am to wait for the inauguration and re-opening ceremony which took place late in the afternoon.
Closure
The Kintampo Waterfalls was closed down following a disaster which resulted in the deaths of 18 students from the Wenchi Methodist Senior High School and the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) who were patronizing the facility on March 19, 2017.
At about 3.00 pm on that fateful Sunday, many of the tall and relatively aged trees along the first, second and third stages of the waterfall uprooted following a severe thunder storm which was accompanied by strong winds.
In the process, one of the old trees on top of the third stage of the waterfalls fell and landed on the visitors who were swimming in the pool below, as a result of a lightning which struck it.
Unfortunately, some of the students who were also climbing the stairway to escape the disaster were also hit by other falling trees during the incident.
New features of the Waterfalls
The refurbished Kintampo Waterfalls comes with and entrance fence wall and a security gate, three number souvenir/provision/ artifacts shops and a toll booth and a spacious car park.
The main arena of the facility has a cafeteria, museum, offices, washroom as well as an overhead merchandised borehole water system, pavilions and summer huts to provide places for outdoor events by patrons.
The compound is also neatly designed with lawns and shade trees which has enhance the aesthetic beauty of the facility.
At the 3rs Stage of the facility, which is the main attraction and swimming is allowed, the damaged staircase with 152 steps which was constructed by Taysec in 1996 has been renovated while a new one with 174 steps has also been constructed.
The new staircase has now been designated as and entry while the renovated old one will be used as exit from the main attraction of waterfall.
Also displayed in the middle of the new staircase is a plaque on which the names of the students who perished during the disaster have been inscribed.
The dilapidated changing room at the main attraction of waterfalls has also been replace with a modern one which has also been attached with an infirmary to cater for the needs of people who fall ill or injured during their visit.
It was this new look of the Kintampo Waterfalls that attracted hundreds of people on its first day of reopening since its closure in March, this year.
Bawumia's address
Addressing the gathering, Alhaji Dr Bawumia said the Kintampo Waterfalls is a “natural gift from God” which should be well-managed to create employment for the teeming youth of the area and beyond.
He stated that tourism had become one of the areas from where government derived its revenue and gave assurance that everything possible would be done to improve on the facilities of the tourists’ destinations.
Alhaji Dr Bawumia called people managing the country’s tourists’ facilities to make sure that patrons adhered to all required rules and regulations to avoid the mishap that occurred at the Kintampo Waterfalls in future.
For her part, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mrs Cathrine Ablema Afeku called on the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) to put in measures to market the country’s tourists’ facilities to enable them to attract both domestic and international patrons.
She disclosed that before it was closed down before the Kintampo Waterfalls attracted 30,000 visitors per year and expressed the hope that with its new look and features, it would attract more patrons.
The Chief Executive Officer of the GTA, Mr Akwasi Agyeman thanked the traditional authouties, the Kintampo Municipal Assembly and the contractors of the project for their efforts to ensure that the project was completed on schedule.
He explained that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would be signed by the Kintampo Municipal Assembly, the GTA and the traditional authorities to ensure the proper management of the facility.