Proposals on Peduase Lodge Submitted

Four consultants have submitted proposals for the refurbishment of the Peduase Lodge, a presidential holiday resort, which is now in total ruins.

The Minister for Works and Housing, Mr Yaw Barimah who disclosed this in an interview, could not immediately give the names of the four consultants.

He said his ministry is working feverishly to convince the Finance Ministry to make provision for the rehabilitation of the lodge in next year's budget.

The minister declined to indicate the estimated cost of the project, but said the consultants have proposed varying figures and the amount involved is substantial. The former Minister for Works and Housing, Mr Kwamena Bartels, is on record to have said that it will cost the state a collosal amount of ?7 billion to rehabilitate the lodge.

Mr Barimah said the Peduase lodge is a national assest which must not be left to collapse, so the ministry will take steps to halt any further decay and restore it to its former status as an enviable presidential resort. He expressed the hope that the public will not politicise the proposed rehabilitation project.

"We are not rehabilitating the Peduase Lodge for the sake of any individual but for the sake of the nation,"he said. When a team of journalists was conducted round the lodge last week Thursday, it came to light that the resort, constructed in 1959 during the reign of Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, has deteriorated.

Located at Kitase, on top of the Akuapem Ridge, the lodge, which used to be one of the finest architectural edifices in Africa, has deteriorated to the extent that it has become an eyesore. The lodge has not seen any major rehabilitation for more than 25 years.

Leakages in the imposing four-storey building, which houses a library, a swimming pool and a theatre complex, as well as guard and staff quarters, have caused extensive damage to the concrete structures and the interior decorations.

The painting has been completely washed off and the curtains are gradually being reduced to rags.

The terrazzo floors have developed cracks all over the place and the granite stones in the bath and dressing rooms are breaking up.

Facilities such as water systems, telephone lines, security camera network and elevators, are not working, and the lighting system is also faulty.

At the four-bedroom presidential suite and the four executive guest suites, some of the beds have broken down and are being destroyed by termites. Portions of the ceiling have decayed as a result of leakages.

All kinds of receptacles have been placed at the presidential rooms to collect water that leaks through the cracked ceilings anytime it rains