Beaches rock on Easter Monday
Many holiday makers celebrated this year’s Easter Monday with their families and friends at the various beaches in Accra.
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The huge numbers was manifested by a gridlock on many roads leading to the beaches and sales at the leisure centres, with commercial drivers among the side beneficiaries.
At the La Pleasure Beach Resort, a good blend of music from different genres blared in the air, providing a complementary effect for the fun environment.
Horse riding, acrobatics, football and volleyball were commonplace, while others relaxed in the sand.
The Duenyo Bobobo Group was on hand to give holiday makers several renditions of their popular performances.
Some patrons told the Daily Graphic that they were satisfied with the general atmosphere at the beaches.
Akpese Julius, a patron, said Easter holidays were the only times he visited the beaches due to the high number of patrons.
Officials of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) once again declined to speak the to Daily Graphic regarding the number of tickets sold as of 3 p.m.
At the Laboma Beach Resort, the situation was no different.
With the launch of the Alora Beach Resort within the Laboma Beach, which is popularly known as a family beach, the place was packed with revellers seated under tents while enjoying the music.
Rooms available for short stays at the Laboma Beach were also full as of 3:52 p.m.
Large numbers
The General Manager in charge of Corporate Services, Jeffery Tetteh, told the Daily Graphic that as of 4:00 p.m., the beach had sold over 15,000 tickets and was still issuing tickets to the large number of revellers trooping in.
“Every management member has moved from the office to help issue out tickets due to the numbers that are coming and to ease the traffic here,” he said.
He said beyond the in-house security, there were police officers from the Osu, La and Teshie district commands to help enforce law and order.
He added that the launch of the Alora Beach resort among other pubs had contributed to the increased patronage.
“Hitherto, we don’t get these numbers except on Christmas holidays, but today has been exceptionally high, and because of that we had to create an outside car space to contain the increasing number of vehicles coming in,” Mr Tetteh said.
Pubs
Some pubs, however, recorded low patronage.
This reflected in the sales made by vendors at the pubs.
The Chief Executive Officer of Zilex Plaza, Sowutuom, Alex Agyemang Duah, confirmed that the pub was not the ultimate place of relaxation for revellers for holiday as compared to other festive seasons.
He said “people mostly go to the beaches in the mornings or travel during the holidays and come to the pubs in the evening”.
Similarly, at Mambo Spot, Sowutuom, as of 2 p.m. the place was totally empty.
The Manager of the Sowutuom branch, who gave her name only as Patience, said this year’s festive season was not as profitable as last year’s.
“The day is still young, and I am hopeful that people would troop in,” she said.
Kokrobite
Some vendors at the Kokrobite Beach recorded minimal patronage seemingly due to a morning drizzle.
A holiday maker, Owusua Boakye, said she had less expectations since most people had gone to Kwahu, the unofficial Easter holiday centre, for leisure.
“I came here to feel the breeze and meditate, and not necessarily for the holiday,” she said.
A kebab vendor, Nayan Abdullai, said he had not made much sales than usual.
That, he said, was because most people had traveled outside Accra for the Easter, but expressed the hope that by the end of the day customers would patronise him.
A holiday maker at the beach, Naadei Ashie, said she loved the weather and the breeze, adding that the raindrops made the beach a cool place to be.
“I always enjoy these moments with cool music which takes some stress off me,” she said.
