Afienya: President John Dramani Mahama over the weekend broke ground for the construction of the Bright International Amusement Park at Afienya near Tema in the Greater Accra Region. The facility, which is being constructed by a Chinese Company, Greenhouse International Development Group, is expected to feature a five-star leisure resort hotel with 160 rooms and 20 independent presidential villas, a 5,000-capacity international conference and exhibition center, a 160,000-square-meter water park, 500 high-end golf villas, an artificial beach, waterfront restaurants, and sightseeing yachts.
According to Ghana News Agency, the facility will take three years to be completed and will be powered by the Bui Power Authority. Upon completion, it is set to create jobs, stimulate local economic growth, and promote women’s empowerment through inclusive employment opportunities.
President Mahama recounted that the amusement park initiative dated back more than 15 years ago, when Mr. Zheng Xiangming, the Chairman of Greenhouse International Development Group, visited his office as the then Vice President to Professor John Evans Atta Mills and mentioned his intention to invest in industries in Ghana to provide employment. ‘It has been 15 long years. Many people would have given up and packed and gone back home, but not him. He has been at it step by step by step by step and today we all can applaud him for the wonderful work that he has done here,’ President Mahama said.
‘It has been 15 years of investment, and we have to commend all officials from the National Democratic Congress to the New Patriotic Party who have assisted him along the way. It’s not been easy.’ The President noted that Mr. Zheng, through perseverance and determination, had eventually delivered a world-class facility at the Bright International Industrial Park.
He said Mr. Zheng had got almost 70 operating factories in the park; citing that the Afri Mall, which was located at the park, sells products that were produced in the park, and that it was a 100 percent made-in-Ghana mall. ‘And so, all the products you find there, the mattresses, the furniture, the refrigerators, the household appliances, the TV sets, and everything are manufactured locally,’ he stated.
The President said Mr. Zheng had opened eight of these malls across the country; stating that Ghanaians were going to have the opportunity to buy their own made-in-Ghana refrigerators, freezers, TVs, beds, chairs, dining furniture, and office furniture, which prices were so affordable. ‘I saw a fridge going for GH?1,200.00. I saw a freezer made in Ghana going for GH?2,200.00. I mean, this is affordable, and it helps even our young people who are just starting life to be able to acquire their household furniture and things that they need to begin life.’
The President, who lauded Mr. Zheng for his investment in Ghana, said so far, he had employed more than 10,000 people in this industrial estate, with more than 50 percent being women. ‘So, he’s implementing our Affirmative Action Act even much better than the government is doing. So, I thank you very much, and I applaud you,’ President Mahama said.
‘We went to the various factories, and I saw a lot of young women, some of them single mothers, some of them just out of school. They get one month’s training, and then they are put on the job. And you could see the joy in their faces that they’ve been able to get a job with which they can fend for themselves.’
President Mahama said Bright International Industrial Park and the Bright International Amusement Park would become the epicenter of the Government’s 24-Hour Economy Programme. Mr. Zheng, in his remarks, noted that the Bright International Amusement Park would stand as another milestone in the friendship between Ghana and China. ‘In the future, we will deeply integrate into Ghana’s 24-Hour Economy, ensuring that this place is vibrant by day and brilliantly lit by night,’ he stated.