Fantasy Dome was “stealing” electricity at the Trade Fair site – ECG

According to sources, this was discovered during the demolition exercise when the illegal connection caused a fire because the electricians who disconnected the metre were unaware of the illegal connection

Wilberforce Asare March 20, 2024

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The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), has cited operators of the now dismantled “Fantasy Dome” which was operated by Fantasy Entertainment at the Trade Fair site from 2018 to 16 March 2024, for stealing electricity through an illegal connection to the dome.

The recent demolition of the Fantasy Dome at the Accra Trade Fair revealed this illegal power connection to the Fantasy Dome tent. According to sources familiar with the development, the illegal connection caused a fire outbreak in the course of the dismantling of the dome because the electricians who disconnected the meter were unaware of the illegal connection.

The fire service was dispatched to respond to the fire during the demolition. ECG officials on-site investigated the source of the fire and traced it to the illegal connection installed by Fantasy Dome.

However, the Electricity Company of Ghana Taskforce has requested that Fantasy Dome management submit a report to the (CSD) Revenue Protection National Taskforce at the ECG project office within 48 hours.

A report from the revenue protection division of the ECG on the illegal connection carried out by owners of the Fantasy Dome, obtained by Asaase News reads, “You are requested, in your interest, to report within 48 hours from the date of this notice to (CSD) REVENUE PROTECTION NATIONAL TASKFORCE at ECG PROJECT OFFICE BEHIND THE VIP TRANSPORT YARD (CIRCLE), preferably between the hours of 8.00 AM and 5.00 PM to regularize your power service connection. You may bring along any relevant ECG document. EGG reserves the right to institute criminal proceedings against you at its convenience.”

The Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited on Saturday, 16 March 2024, dismantled the “Fantasy Dome,” owned by Fantasy Entertainment, which has been on the trade fair site since January 2018, to pave the way for developers to complete the ongoing “Ghana International Trade Fair Center Development Project.” The dismantled facility will be available to its owners for it to be relocated.

The tenancy agreement between the owners of the Fantasy Dome and the Trade Fair Company Limited expired on 31 December 2023. Since then, all efforts by the management of the Trade Fair Company Limited to get “Fantasy Entertainment” to remove the “Fantasy Dome” from the Trade Fair site have proved futile.

The CEO of Fantasy Entertainment stated in a Saturday, 16 March 2024 interview with a section of the media that he has an injunction, but the Trade Fair Company Limited has vehemently denied any such injunction. The company states that it has not been served with any court processes and no injunction was served on the day of the demolition.

Ironically, access to the portion of the site where the “Fantasy Dome” is situated at the Trade Fair site is vital for developers to construct the power and water infrastructure for the project as well as the drainage system to serve the new Ghana International Trade Fair Center. The dome has hampered the progress of these works for approximately 12 months.

To this end, the Trade Fair Company Limited on Saturday, 16 March 2024, embarked on an exercise supervised by the Ghana Police Service with support from the National Security Ministry to take down the “Fantasy Dome” for construction works on the Trade Fair site to proceed freely.

Brief background

The Ghana Trade Fair Company (GTFCL) was established by an Executive Instrument (EI) in 1960 as a project to facilitate Ghana’s post-independence trade and industrialization drive.

The Executive Instrument 10 acquired 239.92 acres of land for this purpose and to showcase Ghana’s exports with the view to attracting investors into its fledgling economy.

From its origins in 1960, GTFCL has metamorphosed into a limited liability company strategically positioned to promote and facilitate trade in Ghana.

There have been attempts by successive governments to revive the company through various public-private partnership initiatives. These attempts have focused on redeveloping the entire center under various themes. The current redevelopment project is considered as a core part of President Nana Akufo Addo’s vision to position Ghana as a trade hub for West Africa.

It is under the Akufo-Addo government that the company was revived to successfully undertake an aggressive redevelopment of the site. The management and board of directors of the company under this government have worked tirelessly to turn the company into a commercially viable business today and have secured funding from development partners to develop the site.

The new GTFC

The new Ghana International Trade Fair Center Development Project, when completed, would have a convention and an exhibition center, a technology hub, a retail mall, commercial offices, hotel accommodations, and public realm spaces. Infrastructure works and construction of the major exhibition center are now underway.

Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra

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Fantasy Dome was “stealing” electricity at the Trade Fair site – ECG