EXTEND MILITARY-POLICE PATROLS TO HOTELS (GRAPHIC, JULY 21, PAGE 29)

Security agencies have been urged to extend their crime combat operations to cover hotels to protect the numerous guests who patronise such facilities in the metropolis, some residents in Tema have advocated.
They were of the view that some ‘crooked business tycoons’ would want to use the hotels as their haven to engage in various illegal activities.
Some of the residents of Tema made the request when the Daily Graphic was finding out the role of the hotels in the fight against crimes and the impact of police swoops on criminals at their hideouts.
They told the Daily Graphic that hotels, especially those located in very obscure places, were possible areas where some criminal activities started and suspects who had been declared wanted also sought refuge.
The police in Tema have in recent times swooped on hideouts and dens of drug peddlers and arrested many suspects who were found with locally manufactured pistols, and quantities of dried leaves and white substances suspected to be hard drugs.
Most residents hold the view that some of the suspects who were arrested but did not have anything on them went back to the hideouts immediately they were released for lack of evidence.
Those interviewed claimed that the Tema police must locate the hideouts of robbers who rape, kill and loot personal properties because they must have engaged in such crimes after indulging in the hard drugs.
Others commented on the springing up of drinking spots, which could not be classified as hotels, bars or restaurants. “Patronage of such spots is limited to only registered members or ‘a certain class of people’ under the guise of going to drink alcoholic beverages, which are sold at double the real cost to prevent non members from going there,” they contended.
The Tema Regional Chairman of the Ghana Hoteliers Association, Nana Kofi Opei V, said support from the security agencies was necessary.
Nana Opei said Tema and its environs, apart from boasting numerous features that attracted tourists, could be a fertile grounds for suspicious characters.
He said as of June 26, 2008 the branch had 148 registered members with six others on its waiting list with eight others yet to make any moves to register.
Nana Opei said people with bad intentions could sneak into the country through the eastern corridor especially with the oil find and leave without being seen.
The hotel business, he noted, was a private sector player, which had provided employment for many people in various spheres of life.
The Meridian Hotel which overlooked the harbour and was abandoned some 40 years ago became the haven for drug addicts and pushers and served as a den for immoral activities.
The state-owned facility had to be abandoned after some leakage were found but could not be remedied because the plan on the project could not be traced.
Investigations led to the discovery that the edifice with its new Malaysians owners had plans to provide a modern restaurant, office complex, shopping mall and swimming pools.
The abandoned structure became a security risk until the Malaysians took over to ensure that people kept away from it.
There are other hotel projects springing up in the metropolis which makes it prudent for the police to take note of all of them and check their books for genuine guests.
The residents of Tema have called for a strong collaboration between the police and the operators of hotels to expose criminals who used their premises to achieve their parochial objectives.
The police have to act to alert criminals that they could not use hotels as their hiding places before many such facilities spring up.
The Deputy Executive Director of the Ghana Tourist Board, Mr Edwin Owusu Mensah, had said at the Second National Executive Council meeting of the Ghana Hoteliers Association that the board would before the end of the year set up an office in Tema to handle all issues pertaining to the hospitality industry.