The Central Regional Director of the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board, Clifford Ato Ashun, has outlined major challenges confronting the Cape Coast Castle, which is a significant historic edifice in the whole of West Africa.
The facility, which is listed by UNESCO as a world heritage facility, on a daily basis encounters people living and working around the castle, especially little boys, wrapping paper containing their name, contact details and stories about them that need urgent financial attention around stones, and throwing it to tourists, especially diasporans who are there on a visit.
This is a worrying situation that sometimes hurts some of these tourists.
According to Ashun, the boys keep doing it upon security intervention from their side, but it still continues because some end up making money and even providing for their parents and relations.
“Some beneficiary parents are using their children for more of this business. They settle their parents when they make money.”
As the world today marks the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the day seeks to honour and remember those who suffered and died as a consequence of the transatlantic slave trade, which has been called “the worst violation of human rights in history”, in which, over 400 years, more than 15 million men, women and children were the victims.
The United Nations (UN) international observance designated this day in 2007 to be marked on 25 March every year.
Ato Ashun believes that tourists must not encounter any challenge during a visit to the Cape Coast Castle.
He also revealed that in this day and age, open defecation around the castle is one of the battles they have to fight with some fisherfolk who are settled next to the castle.
On our visit, Asaase News cited a major refuse collection point behind the castle which is an eyesore, especially when tourists take videos of their visit to serve as a historic memory.
According to the director, all efforts to get city authorities (municipal assembly) to dislocate the refuse dump has proven futile.
Written by Dorinda Armstrong Mensah in Cape Coast
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