The refurbished gallery of the National Museum will be opened to the public in March this year, the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Mohammed Ibrahim Awal, has said.
The refurbished national gallery forms part of the nine iconic public museums being rehabilitated by the Ministry across the country.
The refurbishment which started September last year was in fulfilment of a promise made by the Minister during his visit to some tourist sites in Accra last year.
According to the Minister, the gallery would be opened by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo which would create more jobs and revenue for the country.
Dr Awal said this during a meeting with management of the Ministry to discuss plans for the sector this year.
The Minister said official cars used by past Heads of State and Presidents which were in good shape, would be made available to tourists and the public for rentals.
He said works were also currently ongoing at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum to give it a facelift.
The works, he said when completed, would double the number of visitations annually to the country.
“When all these works are done, Ghana can attract between two to three million tourists annually to the country,” he added.
Dr Awal stated that, his target was to adequately resource the ministry and address the issue of lack of funding adding that, a fund had been secured from the World Bank to undertake major infrastructural development for the tourism sector.
He said the investment that would be made would help reduce poverty by creating about 250,000 jobs that would provide revenue to the government in terms of taxes.
“My legacy as a minister is to build on attractive tourist sites, improve the cultural assets of the sector to boost the economy and enrich the cultural heritage of the country,” he stated.
DrAwal expressed gratitude to the management for their support and success towards the development of the ministry and called for co-operation to achieve the aim.
The Chief Director of the Ministry, Mr John Yao Agbeko, on behalf of the management also thanked the minister and assured of their commitment to improve the tourism industry.
BY VIVIAN ARTHUR
