Oguaa to Restore 500 Buildings to Boost Tourism

Five-hundred buildings of historical importance in the Cape Coast Township have been earmarked for restoration, to increase the number of tourist attractions and facilitate the growth of the tourism industry in the Central Region.

The exercise forms part of the region's Natural Resource Conservation and Historic Preservation Project being undertaken by the Ghana Heritage and Conservation Trust (GHCT).

Mrs. Esi Sutherland-Addy, Chairperson, announced this on Friday, at the presentation of a cheque for 2 million dollars to the Trust at its ninth Board of Trustees meeting at Elmina.

The amount was made available by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), as seed money for the establishment of an Endowment Fund for the project.

It is to assist the Trust, which had relied mainly on funding from Conservation International, to generate its own resources, become self-sustainable and replicated in other parts of the country.

The project was initiated 13 years ago by the late Mr Ato Austin, then Regional Minister, to facilitate socio-economic development through tourism.

The USAID has since 1991, provided grants totalling 10 million dollars towards the project, which focused on the restoration of the Cape Coast and Elmina Castles and the development of the Kakum National Park.

The project also involved the training of personnel in the industry and pilot schemes to assist communities located along the Park with skills to obtain other sources of income and to solicit their participation in its preservation.

Mrs. Sutherland-Addy, underscored the importance of the fund and stressed that the Board would work in collaboration with its partners in the Project including the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB) and the Department of Game and Wildlife.

"The 2 million dollars should not be regarded as money to be gobbled, but money which should be invested to generate more money, to ensure that within 15 months the Trust will have sufficient funds available for projects earmarked."

The Regional Minister, Mr Isaac Edumadze, declared the government's commitment to the preservation of the nation's heritage and pledged that the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) would provide the necessary support towards the project.

He commended the USAID for its assistance and appealed for more.

The deputy director of the USAID, Mr Jay Knott, who presented the cheque, was happy that Ghana is now a major tourism destination in West Africa and that the industry has become the country's third foreign exchange earner.

Mr Knott also praised Ghana's successful democratic process, which he said has earned it a brand name in global tourism as a peaceful, friendly and engaging destination.