By Nana Ama Gyapong
The Manager of Corporate Affairs at the Forestry Commission, Mrs Joyce Kwafo Ofori, has revealed that the Accra Zoo does not have CCTV cameras to determine who goes in and out of the zoo yet. She made this revelation during a phone interview on GTV’s Breakfast show on Monday, August 29.
A CCTV camera, or closed-circuit television, also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It mostly helps keep records of people who walk in and out of a building, and it is mostly placed in homes, companies, and in open areas that require additional security or ongoing monitoring but according to Mrs Ofori, the Accra zoological garden does not have CCTV cameras to monitor the movement of people.
She said, “for now no, I don’t know the last time you went to the zoo but anyone who has been there recently will agree with me that we are doing a lot of renovations and giving a face lift to the zoo, and after that, a lot of these measures will be put in place.”
She reiterated, “the zoo is safe because the workers of the Accra zoo and forestry commission are on top of our jobs; we know what we do and have the safety of all our visitors at heart, so we will not deliberately leave any visitor at risk.”
Upon being asked whether or not the Forestry Commission and the Accra zoo have an insurance and risk management policy, Madam Joyce explained that she would have to find out from the manager at the zoo and the executive director of the Wildlife Division. The Forestry Commission yesterday confirmed that a man who reportedly jumped into the lion’s enclosure at the Accra Zoo on Sunday, August 28, and was attacked by a lion has been pronounced dead.
He died from injuries sustained, and the body has been conveyed to the morgue.
The motive of the intruder is yet to be determined.
