Business News of Thursday, 23 July 2009

Source: GNA

Foreign Investors show interest in Boti-Falls.

Boti, July 23, GNA - Foreign investors from Turkey and Nigeria have made moves to revamp the famous Boti falls in the Yilo-Krobo District, to become one of the well-resourced tourist attraction sites in the country.

The investors mentioned the rehabilitation of major road networks from the entrance through to the waterfall, provision of electricity for the entire Boti community, rest houses, chalets and other recreational facilities, as part of the revamping activities to give tourists value for their money.

This came to light when Mr David Lamptey, former Member of Parliament (MP), for Osu-Klottey and now in the Office of the President, led the team to the Akosombo Hydro-Power stations and Boti falls to inspect tourist and other business potentials in the region on Thursday.

The Boti-falls, which attracts thousands of tourists and generates about 10,000 Ghana cedis during peak days, and its entire Huhunya community has no electricity, no toilet facilities and restaurants. In addition, the road leading to the falls is so muddy that during the rainy season it is difficult for one to get to the falls site. At a meeting with the landowners and chiefs of the various communities surrounding the falls, Mr Lamptey told them that the President had vowed to work in collaboration with traditional authorities, hence the meeting to have their inputs into the project. He pointed out that the litigation over the ownership of the Boti-falls had rather stalled the development of the project, which otherwise would have generated revenue for the development of their communities.

Mr Lamptey therefore urged all the landowners to come to a consensus so as not to drive the investors away whose intentions would create many jobs for the youth in the area and also attract social benefits for them.

He indicated that the investors had chosen Boti following a briefing they had received from the Regional Minister, and added that they would work in collaboration with the Regional Coordinating Council to ensure that adequate compensation packages were paid for the utilization of the land.

Mr Folu Olusonya, President of the Investment group known as Selmeng Engineering Group International, said Boti falls when given the opportunity, could generate huge amounts of revenue and improve the lot of the people.

Asafoatse Padi Tettey, the chief of Boti, who welcomed the delegation, said they were happy that finally investors had come to revamp the area, and pledged total support for them. He admitted that ownership of the land surrounding the falls had become a problem but that the stakeholders had resolved to come to a consensus to allow for the development of the falls to create employment for the youth in the area. 23 July 09