Mr. Asare Ansah had earlier said the Ave Maria Resort in Tema would be pulled down by the end of January 2018 as part of the $1.5 billion Tema Port Expansion Project.

[contextly_sidebar id=”T1Q07YAKHDeReXwt19up7g2TKCdND7wo”]According to him, the GHPA had reached an agreement with the managers of the Resort to pull down the 10 million-dollar facility.

However, Mrs. Ntim refuted the GPHA boss’ assertions, indicating that no conclusive decision had been taken on the matter, which has persisted for over two years.

“It is true they [GPHA] have written that we should leave by January 26. We have replied them to give us three months to wind up and also to make sure they give us compensation and relocation,” she told Citi News.

“I heard he [Mr. Asare Ansah] was saying they have given me several offers. It is not true. Nobody has given me any offers. We were just given a copy of the compensation by the valuers and we are still working on the anomalies in the compensation… So nothing is certain.”

The GPHA boss had also said they had taken the decision to demolish the facility only after they had explored other unsuccessful options to ensure that the establishment remained intact.

But Mrs. Ntim also dismissed these comments, stating that the Meridian Port Services (MPS), the company executing the expansion had indicated that the Resort could be retained and fused into the expansion plans.

“The MPS Managing Director, he told me that Ave Maria can either be included or excluded. In fact, all they need to do was put up a wall, but it was up to the GPHA. The fact that he is saying the people say it cannot be done is not true,” she stated.

“All the things that he [Mr. Asare Ansah] was saying, they were half-truths. I don’t know why he is doing that. He is a liar. I am sorry to use that word,” Mrs. Ntim said.

Alleged intimidation

In October 2017, staff of the Resort were reportedly surrounded by some security personnel of the GPHA. There was some earth movement by a bulldozer which blocked the front gate of the Resort, trapping staff and guests.

A Board Member of the Resort, accused the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), of intimidating the Resort for over two years.

In a Citi News interview, the Board Member said the police offered little protection to the Resort and its staff during a recent attack by security personnel of GPHA.

Managers of the facility lamented that the tension between the Resort and the GPHA was indicative of a country that doesn’t value heritage.

The Resort is said to have been recommended to be preserved by the Center of the World Committee, as it is viewed as having great value for Ghana’s tourism sector.

It has a long heritage for hosting the likes of Ghana’s First President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as a regular patron, and Queen Elizabeth when she visited Ghana.

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By: Elvis Washington/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to him, the owner of the Resort, Theresa Ntim, is aware that the $10 million facility will be pulled down.

[contextly_sidebar id=”2YYEPS242cQRPE1fKrPsvHqlSXgvwWEi”]”We have written to her that end of January into February, we will take down the facility. So now we have gotten to the level of talking about compensation,” he said.

Mr. Asare Ansah explained to Citi News that “the location of Ave Maria Resort was to be occupied by the railway terminal under the expansion project.

“We sympathize and empathize with the owners of Ave Maria. We have been talking to them for the past couple of months, if not years. She did not understand why her facility must be taken out. We have impressed upon her. We have gone back and forth.”

During the tussle that involved legal battles and accusations of intimidation, Mr. Asare Ansah suggested some inconsistency on the part of the Resort’s owners saying, “at certain points, she would agree that she would have to move out of the location… at a certain point, she would come back and say no.”

“We have made offers and counter-offers as to compensation and so forth. The owner took us to court to place injunctions and restrain us from demolishing the facility. The court ruled in our favour and she wouldn’t understand,” he recounted.

But “as at now, she [Theresa Ntim,] has come to appreciate the fact that the facility will go,” Mr. Asare Ansah stated.

Demolishing the facility was the last option for the Authority, according to the GPHA Director-General, who said they tried to see if the project could be realigned to accommodate the Resort but “they did all the scenarios and they came out with a defined decision that it was not possible to accommodate Ave Maria.”

Alleged intimidation

In October 2017, staff of the Resort were reportedly accosted by some security personnel of the GPHA.

There was some earth movement by a bulldozer which blocked the front gate of the Resort, trapping staff and guests.

A Board Member of Ave Maria Beach Resort in Tema, has accused the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), of intimidating the resort for over two years.

A Board Member of the Resort, Charlotte Ntim, in a Citi News interview, also said the police offered little protection to the Resort and its staff during a recent attack by security personnel of GPHA.

Theresa Ntim previously lamented that the tension between the Resort and the GPHA was indicative of a country that doesn’t value heritage.

This Resort is said to have been recommended to be preserved by the Center of the World Committee, as it is viewed as having great value for Ghana’s tourism sector.

It has a long heritage for hosting the likes of Ghana’s First President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as a regular patron, and Queen Elizabeth when she visited Ghana.

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By: Elvis Washington & Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ave Maria Resort to be demolished January ending – GPHA Boss appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

She said her investment, worth $10 million, is being destroyed without human face and recourse to the law.

[contextly_sidebar id=”rb4vOFzbwGpWR6iAPDybvvAX9JBmIrrx”]Beyond that, Mrs. Ntim lamented that, the long-standing conflict between the Resort and the GPHA, which may be linked to the ongoing Tema Port Expansion Project, was indicative of a country that doesn’t value heritage.

“Anywhere else, the place [Ave Maria Resort] will be held as a heritage place and it will be kept as such, but here, we don’t care. They have even destroyed the Meridian Rock… In Ghana we don’t want history,” she said.

There were reportedly two GPHA pickups, two private vehicles, and a bulldozer brought by some GPHA security personnel for the operation.

This Resort is said to have been recommended to be preserved by the Center of the World Committee, as it is viewed as having great value for Ghana’s tourism sector.

It has a long heritage for hosting the likes of Ghana’s First President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as a regular patron, and Queen Elizabeth when she visited Ghana.

But on Sunday, the normally vibrant Resort had to turn back most of their customers after a huge trench was dug in front of the Resort by the bulldozer.

The incident on Saturday has left the place very quiet without the usual flow of business. As of the time Citi News visited, just a handful of customers were seen around.

Water supply and electricity supply were affected when the bulldozer came through and a landmark fountain was destroyed.

“Sunday is usually the busiest day of our business. We also have a wedding lunch and they booked long ago, but when this thing happened, I had to look for a low loader to make sure that at least there was access because we were cut off completely. You couldn’t come in with any vehicle,” Mrs. Ntim told Citi News.

She said they eventually managed to fill the trench created by the bulldozer, but before that, “all the usual guests who come in on Sunday to swim, have a massage and eat; they all had to turn away because they could not have access into the hotel.”

Police have since been to the scene to take some pictures to assess the situation, although they did not respond when they were called at the time of the incident.

‘Apology’ from GPHA Boss

Mrs. Ntim revealed that, the Director General of GPHA, Paul Ansah, came to the Resort “to apologize sort of” and to say that “he didn’t know anything about the operation.”

The GPHA is actually “a regular customer” of the Resort, as it was training the security staff of GPHA to swim, she also noted.

The tensions between the GPHA and the Resort date back to 2015, when Mrs. Ntim recounted that armed guards from the GPHA had been sent to the front of the Resort blocking them out.

There has subsequently been some legal tussle with the GPHA, to protect the investments made into the Resort.

“We’ve been in court with them since 2015. They want the place and our lawyers are saying that there is nothing in the lease to indicate that they could come in one day [and take the place]. After our investment, we knew we had [a lease for] 25 years, to be renewed for another 25 years,” she said.

Officials of the GPHA and the police in Tema, are yet to comment on the matter to Citi News.

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By:  Elvis Washington & Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Board Member, Charlotte Ntim, in a Citi News interview, also said the police offered little protection to the Resort and its staff during a recent attack by security personnel of GPHA.

Her comments came after at least 13 staff and two guests of the Resort were stranded on Saturday evening, after the security personnel from the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) allegedly bulldozed portions of the entrance to the facility.

According to a Board Member, the Saturday night incident is one of many intimidation tactics by the Port’s authorities to have the historic facility evacuated as part of its expansion project.

“The staff was not able to leave because a bulldozer together with two GPHA pickups and two private vehicles had come, threatened staff members, taken their phones, locked our security and effectively bulldozed the front of Ave Maria Resort. In late 2015, they blockaded the property with armed guards,” she narrated.

She added that: “we haven’t found the police to be very effective. This is just based on the experience we had with them in 2015 as well. GPHA has quite a bit of clout in Tema so people are reluctant to go against them a lot of the time. So we haven’t reported the matter to the Police.”

The Ave Maria Resort is said to have been recommended to be preserved by the Center of the World Committee, as it is viewed as great value for Ghana’s tourism sector.

The Resort has a long heritage for hosting the likes of Ghana’s First President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as a regular patron, and Queen Elizabeth anytime she visited Ghana.

Meanwhile, efforts to reach the Tema Police and authorities of GPHA have proven futile.

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By: Caleb Kudah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Reports indicate that, staff of the Resort were accosted by some security personnel of the GPHA on Saturday evening.

There were reportedly two GPHA pickups, two private vehicles, and a bulldozer brought by the GPHA security personnel.

Staff who reached out to Citi News noted that, there was some earth movement by a bulldozer which blocked the front gate of the resort, trapping staff and guests.

Pictures from the scene show the aftermath of the bulldozer activities, as the ground was dug with pieces of demolished concrete structures.

The Resort’s managers alleged that the GPHA has consistently employed intimidation tactics to forcefully remove the Ave Maria Resort for the past two years.

Officials of the Port are not immediately available for comment on the matter.

About Ave Maria Resort

The Ave Maria Resort is said to have been recommended to be preserved by the Center of the World Committee, as it is viewed as great value for Ghana’s tourism sector.

The Resort has a long heritage for hosting the likes of Ghana’s First President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as a regular patron, and Queen Elizabeth anytime she visited Ghana.

The port expansion project

The Meridian Port Services (MPS), is executing the port expansion project, and the GPHA, according to a GNA report, has said that Ave Maria Resort has to be relocated to make way for the project.

A former official of the GPHA, however, said they are yet to agree on compensation for the relocation of the Resort.

Nonetheless, he gave the assurance that the two entities were in talks to finalize it.

The Tema Port Expansion Project, when completed in 2019, is envisioned to allow the Tema Port to handle thrice its current traffic of about one million 20-foot Equivalent Units (TEUS).

The project would also see the expansion of the Tema-Accra motorway into a six-lane road, with service lanes to ease traffic flow from the port.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post GPHA security bulldoze portions of Ave Maria Resort appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Wall Street Journal quoted sources close to the company as saying a run of 4,000 devices will be manufactured next month.

The tablet will have two rear-facing cameras and advanced imaging software – and will be shown off at the firm’s forthcoming developers’ conference.

Google has said it will not comment on “rumour and speculation”.

But in March, Google showed off Project Tango, an effort to bring 3D technology to its handheld devices. A prototype smartphone had been given out to 200 developers to try out.

The technology makes use of infrared sensors to measure depth of surroundings.

While the ability to create 3D images with small devices is by no means a new technological feat, Google’s strategy will be to harness the hardware to contribute to, among other things, its mapping effort.

For instance, the devices could be used to create quickly a 3D map of indoor environments.

Virtual reality race

According to the Wall Street Journal, the 3D tablet will be shown off at Google’s annual developers’ conference at the end of June.

As it did with the Google Glass eyewear product, it is expected the firm will allow a select number of developers and engineers to experiment with the technology before a consumer launch is planned.

Although still a relatively minor industry, the race to create the “killer app” for building and viewing virtual reality environments is building apace.

In March, Facebook swooped in on a $2bn (£1.2bn) deal for Oculus VR, a company making a virtual reality headset.

A mini-site for Project Tango has highlighted a few of the firm plans in the area.

“Project Tango is an attempt to create a mobile device unlike like any other,” the site explains.

“A mobile device that shares our sense of space and movement, that understands and perceives the world the same way we do.”

In the past few years, devices able to view and create 3D images have made it to market, but suffered heavily from a lack of consumer interest, said Jack Kent, an analyst at IHS.

“If Google really pushes it, that might change the dynamics of the market,” he told the BBC.

Source: BBC

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