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University of Ghana to build a 26 Million-GH Cedi
hostel
Accra, Sept. 11, Ghaadot/GNA - The
University of Ghana on Tuesday introduced a significantly
new dimension to the funding and management of tertiary
education with the formal commencement of the construction
of a 26 million-GH Cedi hostel complex to house students.
The 7,000-bed project is being financed from a syndicated
loan by six Ghanaian financial institutions, an innovation
President John Agyekum Kufuor said gave hope of serious
awakening to institutional self-help among the country's
universities.
Performing the ceremony to mark the formal commencement of
construction work on the hostel and to inaugurate other new
facilities, he noted that the universities were not lacking
in terms of bankable and assets that could be invested,
citing land, cash in the bank and ideas.
"Strangely, this haven of innovativeness and resourcefulness
has somehow seemed bereft of capacity to convert their
assets in a business-like manner to grow themselves."
President Kufuor said it was heart-warming that at long last
"an awakening is taking place on all campuses".
He conveyed the Government's gratitude to the six financial
institutions - Cal Bank, Ecobank, Agricultural Development
Bank, Fidelity Bank Ghana, International Commercial Bank and
SG-SSB Ghana - for agreeing to provide credit for the hostel
project.
He said by so doing, they were contributing to the
implementation of the Government's human resource
development policy and also promoting the concept of
public-private partnership as a cornerstone of the nation's
socio-economic development.
Additionally, this was also a confirmation of the growing
confidence in the national economy.
The new projects the President inaugurated were a computer
laboratory, a recreational garden and phase one of a sports
complex, consisting of an Olympic-size swimming pool,
gymnasium and changing room.
President Kufuor said the Government, realizing that the
ideal capacity of the university might be about 50,000
students within the next decade, was committed to supporting
it to expand instructional, accommodation and staffing
capacities.
This was being done through budgetary allocation as well as
the GETFund.
Mr Anthony Oteng-Gyasi, Chairman of the University Council,
asked the contractors to ensure that they delivered not only
quality job but also did that within the scheduled timeframe
of between 24 to 36 months.
He said he was unhappy about the slow pace of work on leased
lands by private developers, saying the relief they had
hoped for had been painfully slow in coming.
Professor Clifford Nii Boi Tagoe, the Vice Chancellor, said
they were doing everything to improve on academic,
residential and recreational facilities at the University
and expressed appreciation to the Government, the GETFund
and some individuals for their support in this direction.
The President of the Students Representative Council, Ms
Louise Carol Serwaa Donkor, while welcoming the hostel
project, said there was the need for corresponding increase
in academic facilities.
GNA
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