Some patrons of the Takoradi branch of Vienna City Night Club, a subsidiary of Vienna City Group, are not happy at the frustrations they go through when they visit the most popular entertainment centre in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis of late.
According to them, it had now become very difficult for clients who visit the prestigious night club, particularly during the weekends, to have space to park their vehicles.
They have, therefore, threatened to stop patronising the night club, if the problem is not solved.
They lamented that because there was limited parking space in front of the night club, some of the patrons had to park their vehicles around Bompeh Senior High School in Takoradi, about 400 metres away from the club.
They alleged that the problem had arisen because portions of the parking space, allotted to Vienna City for its clients, had been taken over by someone who operated a barbering shop in the building.
They explained that the owner of the Phases Barbering Saloon, in the evenings, erect canopies and arrange plastic chairs at portions of the Vienna City parking lot and sell drinks to some customers.
Most customers of Vienna City, who spoke to DAILY GUIDE in separate interviews, could not fathom why the authorities of the Takoradi Vienna City were not doing anything about the problem.
They stressed that even though the night club offered high quality service with rich facilities, if care was not taken, most of the customers, including some high profile personalities in the metropolis, would cease patronising the night club.
A source at the Takoradi Vienna City Night Club confirmed the problem in an interview with DAILY GUIDE but disagreed with the perception that the management of the club was not doing anything about it.
According to the source, several complainants had been made to the police, the Metropolitan Assembly as well as the Regional Tourist Authority, but to no avail.
�In fact, we are not against the barbering shop operating a drinking spot but our problem is the way he erects canopies and arrange plastic chairs for his customers at our parking space,� the source added.
When DAILY GUIDE contacted the owner of Phases Barbering Shop, Isaac Arthur, also called Summer, he denied the allegation that he had taken over Vienna City�s parking lot.
�Where they say I have taken over cannot even contain two cars,� he stressed.
He said the management of Vienna City were worried that he (Isaac) would capture majority of their customers and so were doing everything to stop him from operating.
Mr. Arthur, who DAILY GUIDE gathered is the son of the owner of the Vienna City building, wondered why he should allow a foreign company to collapse his business, when he is a Ghanaian.
�I am not operating illegally because I have been permitted by the tourist authority, the fire service and the police to operate. If they can�t stand the competition I don�t care,� he added.
However, when DAILY GUIDE contacted the Western Director of the Ghana Tourist Authority, Michael Kpingbi, he denied granting licence to the owner of the barbering shop to operate a drinking spot in front of Vienna City in the evenings.
�At times some task forces will be sent to remove the canopies but come the next day, you go and see that he has mounted them again,� adding that �the Deputy Regional Minister, Alfred Ekow Gyan and the Metropolitan Chief Executives are all aware of the problem.�
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