Poor roads hamper ecotourism promotion
The Liati Wote community in the Afadjato South District which plays host to tourist attractions has commenced self-help initiatives to enhance the experience of tourists who visit the area.
Receipts accrued from patronage of the sites are being channelled into projects which would enhance tourists’ experience. The self-help initiatives include the establishment of a tourists’ resource centre and the erection of sheds to serve as rest stops.
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The Chairman of the tourism development committee for Liati Wote, Mr John Yao Agbeko, who made this known to the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of this year’s Tagbo Falls festival of the chiefs and people of the Liati Traditional Area, also indicated that part of the funds went into the payment of royalties to the owners of the site.
Deplorable roads
However, promotion of the eco-tourism prospects of the community are being largely affected by a poor road network.
The town is about 45 minutes’ drive and 33 kilometres from the district capital at Ve Golokwati. The barely motorable road is mostly accessible by motorcycle due to the refusal of most commercial vehicles to ply the road. Taxi drivers for instance indicate that plying the road is not economically viable, since all proceeds end up being used for vehicle maintenance.
The Paramount Chief of the Liati Traditional Area, Togbega Gblemor X, said at the 2019 celebration of the Tagbo Falls festival at Liati Wote last Thursday, October 31, that "very often, we have to use the little profit we make from tourist visits to fix the road ourselves. Truly speaking, the nature of our roads is a great disservice to tourism development."
His complaints were not isolated; some tourists expressed disappointment with the state of the road from Kpeve to Liate Wote and indicated that it was the only debilitating factor discouraging them from seeking a repeat of the adventure.
The Ghana Tourism Authority, led by the Regional Director, Mr Alexander Nketia, added his voice to the appeals, and called on all and sundry to contribute their quota towards the development of tourism sites at Liati Wote and by extension the region in order to harness its economic fortunes.
Self help
In the meantime, the community through self-help initiatives has acquired gravels and sand to level the untarred road to make it easily accessible.
So far no authority has shown interest in completing the road, even though the Afadjato District Assembly indicated that construction of the road was part of its development plans.
Togbega Gblemor stated: "We are simply sitting on a gold mine and complaining that we are poor. We have all it takes to be rich and successful people. We want to develop and harness all our tourism potential for development to give our people a better life. "
According to the Liati Wote Tourism Development Committee, there would be the need to build more guesthouses and hotels to meet the increasing demand of tourists who wish to spend the night and they have therefore appealed to investors to take up the critical need.
Already there is a plan to refurbish the only community guesthouse which is without an indoor toilet facility, while the committee has also indicated that it would be reconstructing a track to the tourist site which is currently being affected by erosion.
Sanitation
The community through Stepping Stones for Africa, an NGO focused on grass-roots development in Africa, is also currently championing the Liati Wote Green and Clean campaign to improve and create jobs in the area of sanitation. The NGO has provided 15 dustbins that are now available from the community centre all the way to the top of the mountain and the Tagbo Falls. The initiative is part of a larger ongoing project focused on plastic waste recovery and recycling and awareness creation in Liati Wote.
In a bid to promote the tourism industry in the Volta Region, the chiefs and people of the area have since 1992 set aside the special occasion to behold nature’s wonders such as the Afadjato (Mount Afadja) and the Tagbo waterfalls.
The Liati town does not only boast of having the best combination in the two tourist attractions, but is home to three other smaller waterfalls, the snake village at Liati Soba, Mount Agbogli at Liati Agbonyra and a host of other attractions, leading to a high tourist turnout of 14,854 visitors between 2018 and 2019.
Mount Afadja
Afadjato is the highest mountain in Ghana, standing at an altitude of 885 metres (2,904 ft) above sea level. The mountain is located in the Agumatsa Range, near the villages of Gbledi and Liati Wote in the Volta Region, which presents a daring feat to challenge oneself to.
The captivating landscape, represented by a cluster of sites, has not failed to draw curious tourists both internally and overseas who visit the area daily to have an exhilarating feel and the best view from the attractions.
The Volta Region is home to many tourist attractions and is touted as possessing the strongest potential to boost the economic fortunes of the country for a sector which is the 4th highest foreign exchange earner for the country.