Failure on the part of authorities to settle a contractor who built a centre for the purpose of teaching and learning Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality of the Upper East Region, has caused the contractor to lock up the facility and left it to rot away.
The facility which was constructed during the Mills–Mahama administration by the Ministry of Communications under its Etransform project has not been put to use nearly seven years after completion.
The facility which was put up with the aim to serve as a resource centre for students from senior high schools, colleges and the C.K Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences, now play host to reptiles and has been taken over by filth and weeds.
A part of the fence wall of the centre has collapsed following heavy rains, giving access to thieves who have begun stealing external components of the facility such as air conditioners.
Pupils and students who should have been using the facility to catch up with the rest of the world in the IT revolution, now look on hopelessly at the facility remains under lock and key.
A Teacher who pleaded anonymity said; “This is a huge facility which could have helped teach students the IT subject which they are seriously lagging behind in. But due to poor political leadership in the municipality, region and country, it is here lying waste”.
A visit to the facility which sits directly in front of the Adabayeri Primary School in the Gongnia community, shows the furniture and tiled floors covered in thick dust, giving the indication the facility has not been opened for use after its completion.
A man who watches over the facility periodically sweeps and cleans it, but his efforts are not enough. He is not paid regularly and that has affected his commitment to duty, sources told GhanaWeb’s Senyalah Castro.
The Assemblyman for the Gongnia electoral area, Caesar Ananga Wekem, is not happy that authorities have allowed such a huge investment to waste away when the municipality is in serious need of a centre for the teaching and learning of the subject.
“The facility was strategically sited here to serve as a resource centre for students. The St. John Bosco College of Education is about 200m from here and we also have the C.K Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences nearby. But now that it is not opened, it is not helping the young guys (students) who want to aspire to the highest levels to source information and that is a challenge.”
Mr. Ananga said he has made several attempts and raised the fate of the facility on many occasions at meetings of the municipal assembly, but nothing good has come out of his efforts.
He revealed that the MP for the area, Sampson Tangombu Chiragia, also recently visited the centre in an effort to get it opened for use, but the contractor did not welcome the moves of the Member of Parliament.
Mr. Ananga said his observation of issues surrounding the abandoned facility shows unwillingness on the part of the contractor to hand over the facility. He therefore urged authorities to hold deliberations with the contractor and settle all differences with him so that the centre can be operationalized.
“Looking at the stories given, it is the contractor who is now the problem. So, for me, I’m thinking that we need to get in touch with the contractor so that he will tell us how far he has come with the project and if he can hand over the project to us. Our authorities should also do their checkups and sort out the issues with the contractor so that we can have the place opened.”
