![\"accraechopark\"](\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/accraechopark.png\")
<\/p>\nThe Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has expressed some opposition\u00a0to the existing plan to convert part of the Achimota Forest Reserve into an Eco-Park.<\/p>\n
The facility is expected to have eco-lodges, fencing, veterinary, camping sites, watering points, viewing platforms, a restaurant, suspended walkways, among others.<\/p>\n
The Mahama government, which cut the sod for the redevelopment of the forest reserve in 2016, said the\u00a0establishment of the eco-tourism park, the Accra Eco Park, would create about 4000 jobs during the construction and more than 2,000 direct and 10,000 indirect jobs during the operational phase.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The government also projected that, over about a 10-year period, government will receive revenue amounting to about $186 million as corporate tax and about $18 million in social security payment.<\/p>\n
But Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng believes the Achimota Forrest should remain as it is with eco-tourism efforts directed elsewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy personal opinion is that it should remain a forest. I will go further to say that there are all sorts of encroachment from religious organisations. A lot of churches have been built and temporary structures are there. I think they should all come down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhoever wants to eco-tourism can go to the Atiwa Forrest or the Kakum Park\u2026 if you have the Achimota forest, that is fine. The Achimota forest should be reserved as a forest,\u201d the Minister stated.<\/p>\n
The 495-hectare Achimota Forest Reserve was created by the Gold Coast colonial government for recreational and environmental conservation purposes.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
By: Delali Adogla-Bessa\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has expressed some opposition\u00a0to the existing plan to convert part of the Achimota Forest Reserve into an Eco-Park. The facility is expected to have eco-lodges, fencing, veterinary, camping sites, watering points, viewing platforms, a restaurant, suspended walkways, among others. The Mahama government, which cut the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[4985,275,3],"class_list":["post-301278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-accra-eco-park","tag-achimota-forest","tag-ghana-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=301278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301278\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=301278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=301278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=301278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}