The Central Regional Office of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has provided relief items to four schools severely affected by a rainstorm.
The beneficiary schools are Ghana National Inclusive Basic School in Cape Coast, St Mary’s Vocational School in Elmina in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem municipality, Fettehman Senior High School in the Gomoa East District, and the Asafora Technical Institute in the Mfantsiman municipality.
Each of the schools received roofing sheets and nails to aid in repairs.
The rainstorm, which struck two weeks ago, damaged infrastructure in 29 schools and impacted 4,000 people across 17 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies in the Central Region.
The storm left dozens of residential houses partially or destroyed, with three second-cycle schools and one inclusive basic school among the worst-affected institutions that required urgent intervention.
As part of the response, the Regional Minister, Ekow Panyin Okyere Eduamoah, who is also the Chairman of the Central Regional Disaster Management Committee, presented roofing materials to support emergency repairs to restore academic activities in the affected schools.
The minister explained that additional relief items had been distributed to other affected schools through their respective MMDAs to ensure continuity of teaching and learning.
Mr Eduamoah also directed the NADMO Regional Directorate to intensify hazard identification and public education in schools, while cautioning against indiscriminate tree cutting around school compounds, noting that trees served as natural windbreaks that helped reduce the impact of storms.
He stated that many of the affected school buildings were already in poor condition prior to the storm, stressing that early maintenance could have reduced the extent of damage recorded.
Mr Eduamoah said the government would prioritise the completion of stalled school projects funded mainly through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), adding that several of the projects had reached advanced stages of completion, but had been abandoned for years.
He explained that many of the projects were between 70 per cent and 92 per cent complete, adding that completing them would be cost-effective and would immediately provide additional classroom space to ease congestion in schools across the region.
The Central Regional Minister explained that while new projects had been started, existing ones remained unfinished, which had contributed to delays in improving school infrastructure delivery; hence, the renewed focus on completing abandoned facilities.
Gratitude
The Headmistress of Fettehman Senior High School, Eunice Mary Yeboah, expressed gratitude to the government for the timely intervention, describing it as crucial to restoring damaged infrastructure and ensuring the continuity of academic work.
She said the support would bring relief to the school community.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh