The Kintampo Waterfalls incident, which claimed 19 lives and injured 21 others last Sunday, has brought to the fore how a beautiful tourist facility has been left to rot over the years.A tour of the facility by the Daily Graphic Thursday has revealed that the nation was sitting on a time bomb all these years as tourists patronised the waterfalls oblivious of the danger it posed to their lives.And alas, the day came unannounced and the Kyenkyen tree, which obviously had become a dead wood, broke into two with the upper half crushing revellers just about 30 minutes after they had started enjoying the serene atmosphere of the facility.Days before the incident, bushfires had swept through the forest surrounding the waterfalls and burnt the trees, one of which was the Kyenkyen tree, which fell on that fateful day.The Kintampo Waterfalls has three levels, beginning from level one at the top and descending gradually to the third level where it falls into a pool.The strong wind that culminated in the falling of a number of trees started from the first level and went through the forest.“It was like a bulldozer passing through the forest,” that was how a tour guide of the Kintampo Waterfalls, Mr Frank Owusu, described it when he led this reporter to assess the situation yesterday.It was obvious that the wind that accompanied the sudden rainfall was strong since tens of trees could not stand the might of the “hurricane”.Big and small trees were uprooted right from the first level of the waterfalls to the third level where the already dead Kyenkyen tree stood.An official of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) who described the tragedy as very unfortunate spoke about plans to have a partnership with the GTA, the Kintampo Municipal Assembly and traditional authorities to bring the facility up to standard.“Under the plan, we will make sure that all parties are part of the management and funds set aside from proceeds for maintenance and capacity building of the tour guides,” he said.Next week, the official said the GTA would dispatch health, safety and security officials to start the safety audit.He said based on the recommendations, the challenges would be fixed before the Kintampo Waterfalls would be re-opened to the public.“The GTA is also working on public liability insurance for patrons of all tour attractions, “ he said.To make it effective, the GTA says, “We are sending proposals to Parliament to pass a Legislative Instrument (LI) that will mandate the GTA to licence and register all tour attractions.”A tour assistant, Mr Sallas Mensah, who gave an eyewitness account of the March 19 tragedy, said that students from the Wenchi Methodist Senior High School arrived at about 3 p.m. just after students from the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) had arrived.“Apart from the students who were about 120 in number, there were other people who were also at the facility to socialise, he said.A hero of this national tragedy is one of the deceased who is said to have died in his efforts to save one of the people who got trapped in the pool.Mr Mensah told the chilling story of the heroic act of one of the deceased who went down into the pool to rescue one of the victims only to be crushed by another falling tree on his way back to the staircase.The Kintampo Waterfalls in its current state has nothing to be proud of, apart from the natural beauty of the waterfalls that had existed over the years.The waterfalls is about 50 metres away from the Kintampo-Tamale highway on the outskirts of Kintampo. "It's not the fault of anybody.
Twenty people, mostly students on excursion, lost their lives while over 21 others sustained injuries after trees crashed on them following a heavy rainstorm. The disaster occurred after a number trees came tumbling down while the students were bathing in the water. Kintampo Waterfall disaster (March 19, 2017): It was a sad moment for Ghana as students of Wenchi Senior High School died while on excursion at the Kintampo Waterfall. Kintampo police superintendent Anane Appiah said an investigation had been launched but initial indications were that it was a "natural disaster," he said. The road to the facility is not tarred.A makeshift urinal at the entrance of the facility is in a bad state.There are neither toilet nor urinal facilities at the poolside and those needing to respond to the call of nature have to climb the 152 steps staircase in order to access such facilities which are in themselves not in any desirable state.Online Sales: 0543465403 | 0242202447 | Ads Dept: +233 302 684001 The Kintampo Waterfall disaster which claimed lives on Sunday, March 19, 2017 has been described as an “act of God,” a report presented to parliament has revealed. Speaker, on the sad day that the tragedy occurred as I alluded to this august house a day after my team, the Vice President of the Republic of this nation and other stakeholders visited the site, we did not see any illegal occupation,” the minister said.She said apart from the Kintampo Waterfall, similar safety audits were being carried out by the ministry at Fuller Waterfall, near Kintampo in the Brong-Ahafo Region; Kakum National Park in the Central Region; Wli Waterfall in the Volta Region; Boti Waterfall in the Eastern Region; Bonsu Aboremtrem in the Eastern Region and Nzulezu in the Western Region.Ms Afeku indicated that the various safety audits being carried out at some of the major tourist sites in the country became necessary as a result of the Kintampo disaster and that the team, which is conducting those safety audits comprises military engineers from the 48 Engineers Regiment, some officials from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), a safety management consultant, a health management consultant, an environmental management consultant, some officials from the Forestry Commission, as well as the Ghana Tourism Authority and a tourism sector Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) called Tourism Safety and Security Initiative.The minister, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Evalue Ajomoro Gwira, had been invited to respond to an urgent question filed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.The North Tongu MP wanted to know the steps the ministry was taking to guarantee the safety of tourists at Ghana’s tourist sites following the Kintampo Waterfall tragedy.According to the tourism minister, a review of the management structures was also recommended by the audit team, as well as introduction of clearly defined public safety management measures and emergency preparedness and coordination.“The team said immediate afforestation exercise must be carried out to improve the diversity of flora while loose rocks and those in potentially precarious positions at the various stages of the Falls must be removed,” she maintained.She explained that proposals had been made to build a museum, a replica of Kwame Nkrumah’s lodge, camp site, canopy walkway, hotels and cafeteria to make Kintampo Waterfall a top-class tourist site since it is a very important attraction in the country.“Mr Speaker, the Ghana Tourism Authority has been coordinating activities with the 48 Engineers Regiment, Forestry Commission, the traditional authorities and local assemblies,” she pointed out, adding that a team, led by personnel of the 48 Engineers, would move to the site on Thursday, June 8, while the afforestation exercise would also commence soon.Ms Afeku mentioned that the training for tour guides and capacity building for workers at all tourist sites was taking place while a new Legislative Instrument to bring all tour attractions under the Ghana Tourism Authority Licensing and Registration Regime was being worked out and that it would soon be sent to Parliament.“Public liability Insurance for all tour sites is also being pushed as a mandatory requirement for all attractions,” she declared. By. Even though I concede that Kintampo waterfall disaster could be a natural one, we cannot also afford to disregard the mystical powers behind it as espoused by the Kintampo Chief. Email . The Kintampo Waterfalls incident, which claimed 19 lives and injured 21 others last Sunday, has brought to the fore how a beautiful tourist facility has been left to rot over the years. Kintampo Waterfalls Tragedy Was A Disaster In Waiting. The closure of the Kintampo waterfalls after a disaster that killed 17 students is reported to be having adverse consequences on other tourist sites and businesses in the Brong Ahafo Region. Kintampo Waterfall disaster (March 19, 2017): It was a sad moment for Ghana as students of Wenchi Senior High School died while on excursion at the Kintampo Waterfall.