TWIN-CITY SERVICE PROVIDERS OVERWHELMED BY DEMAND (PAGE 31)

Service providers on the twin-city of Sekondi/Takoradi, especially those in water supply and those in the hospitality industry are overwhelmed by the high demand for more services.
The just-ended oil and gas conference hosted by the twin-city has exposed a lack readiness of the hospitality industry to provide world or semi-world class facilities to meet expectations of customers.
Some of the participants who took part in the three-day conference came from various African countries and across the world. There were very much shocked that the taps in their hotel rooms had suddenly ceased flowing.
Some claimed they really had a hard time before getting water to take their bath before going to the conference hall at the Raybow International Hotel in Takoradi.
To the embarrassment of the host, some took the microphone and questioned the readiness of the country’s hospitality service sector.
They questioned the ability of the Ghana Water Company Limited to meet the demands of the growing population.
The other sad aspect of it was when these guests from Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Britain, etc. raised questions regarding the readiness of the service industry to take advantage of the oil find.
Other questions asked were about the preparedness of the banking and financial sector in general to meet the demands of the find as there was congestion at the banking halls.
It is normal for one in the twin-city to walk to an ATM machine to find that either there is no money in the machine or it is clearly malfunctioning. Similarly, it is normal for one to turn on the tap and nothing flows.
With the oil find, there will be a need for a convenient place such as a dynamic financial service, insurance and security, accommodation and office space for an investor to transact his/her business. How ready are the local investors in taking advantage of all these opportunities to meet the increasing demands?
From all indications, demand for services in the metropolis is going to be faster than expected.
Oil was discovered in 2007, but the services sector in the twin-city, where all the activities would take place, is missing and various service providers in the areas of water and power supply, telecommunications and the hospitality industry must not lag behind in these propitious times.