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| Hoteliers Tasked to Cooperate in Fighting Crime |
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| Posted on: 2007-Jun-27 Chronicle |
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THE GHANA Hotels Association has been called upon to cooperate in the fight against crime in the country.
Speaking at the first National Executive Council meeting held at the Eusbett hotel in Sunyani, the Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Abraham Kwadwo Kwakye noted that it is common knowledge that criminals and other fugitives from justice use hotels to plan and execute their nefarious activities.
Mr. Kwakye continued that others use hotel facilities as places of refuge and for the shooting of pornographic films, sometimes using girls as young as sixteen years and lower.
According to him, these are criminal acts under the laws of the country, therefore nobody should connive with such people. He advised hoteliers to report suspicious characters on their premises to the security agencies for investigation and necessary action.
The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister appealed to the Ghana Hotels Association and other trade associations in the tourism industry such as the Restaurants' Association and Traditional Caterers and Drinking Bar Operators to adopt more professional and internationally acceptable standards and ways to upgrade their facilities and services.
"It is good enough to have beautiful buildings but you must endeavor to maintain the buildings always", Mr. Kwakye advised.
According to him, it is not enough to employ handsome men and beautiful ladies as cooks, waiters, managers or housekeepers, and that they must be trained and retrained to provide satisfactory services to customers.
He however appealed to private investors to invest in accommodation and catering facilities at or near tourist sites.
Mr. Abraham Kwakye entreated the Environmental Protection Agency and the Municipal and District assemblies to cooperate more in the processing and approval of permits for prospective hoteliers and catering establishments.
The National President of the Hotels Association, Nana Adjei Twinin expressed concern about the incentives benefit package for the tourist industry under the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre in the Legislative Instrument 1817, passed last year.
The incentive package was meant to alleviate some of the burdens on Tourism investors, especially those in the hotel industry but he said there are some bottlenecks which are a bother to hoteliers.
Nana Adjei Twinin explained that a hotel building cannot become a complete facility unless certain materials are put in place. However, building materials like tiles, sliding windows and doors, electronic key locks and heavy generator sets among others are not included in the exemption package, which is causing challenges for hoteliers.
He therefore appealed to the government, through the ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, to revisit the incentive package and some other areas to grant more tax reliefs to enable hoteliers operate reasonably and effectively.
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