Beach revellers opt for cheap entry fees - Over safety, security
Holidaymakers, as their way of celebrating the Independence Day holiday yesterday, threw caution to the wind and used unapproved routes to swim and have fun at beaches without lifeguards and security.
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The revellers abandoned the notable beaches such as LA Pleasure Beach Resort and Laboma Beach which charge entry fees of between GH¢20 and GH¢30 and also provide security and lifeguard services, and rather opted to pay between GH¢2 and GH¢5 to have fun at nearby beaches which had no security nor lifeguards, putting their lives at risk.
Observation
During a visit to some of the beaches in Accra, the Daily Graphic observed that only a handful of holidaymakers were at the LA Pleasure Beach Resort whose holiday rates ranged from GH¢25 to GH¢30.
Many of the revellers, instead, thronged the nearby beaches to engage in activities such as football, swimming and horse riding.
As of 1 p.m, officials of the Labadi Beach were not at post and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) officials had taken over the entrance to issue tickets to holidaymakers due to a pending motion before a court.
The GRA officials, however, declined to grant an interview or give information on the number of tickets sold at the time of the visit.
No supervision
At one of the beaches close to the LA Pleasure Beach Resort, some of the holidaymakers said they paid GH¢2 to access the beach known as Akapoko.
At that beach, the Daily Graphic observed that there was a swarm of people, including children, swimming with no supervision.
One of the holidaymakers, who gave his name as Atta Osa, said he chose to be at the Akapoko beach because he could not afford the GH¢30 being charged at the LA Pleasure Beach entrance.
At the LA Pleasure Beach Resort, there were lively activities such as horse riding, All-terrain vehicle riders as well as barbecue to spice up the place, but the number of revellers who came to patronise the place was low as compared to previous years.
The vendors said they were expecting sales to rise in the evening as many people visited the beaches mostly at night.
At the Laboma Beach, as of 11 a.m., the place was partly deserted, however, when the Daily Graphic went back around 3 p.m. it observed that more patrons were trooping in.
Most of the patrons, who were mostly in groups, were either relaxing under tents, playing football or taking a stroll.
With no work to do, some of the vendors were seen walking around while others were relaxing under the tents.
Kokrobite beach
At the Kokrobite Beach, the Daily Graphic observed that many of the holidaymakers were children.
The four colours of the Ghana flag dominated the decorations of the pubs at the beach to mark the day.
The patrons who were mostly in groups, were either playing football in the sand, riding horses, swimming or were just seated, enjoying the atmosphere.
The owner of Dizzy Lizzie's Beach Resort, Lindsay Asare, who has been in operation for 13 years, told the Daily Graphic that the day was young and expressed the hope that this year’s holiday sales would be better than that of last year.
Low patronage
A khebab vendor, who mentioned his name as Freeman Nyaba, lamented the low patronage since most of the holidaymakers were young.
“People are here but they are not buying and we are hopeful that by the end of the day, we get customers patronising us,” Nyaba, who has been in the business for almost 10 years, said.
A holidaymaker at the beach, Akwasi Amoah, said he saw this day as a normal one, hence he came here with his friends to have fun and swim on the holiday.
He however added that Kokrobite Beach was one of the neatest resorts despite the fact that they charge an entry fee of GH¢5.
A ticket vendor, Nii Nortey, explained that the gate fees charged were used for the maintenance and upkeep of the beach environment