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“Free Range” at Avatime SHS … students lack toilets
Students of the Avatime Senior High School (AVASEC) at Vane in the Ho West District of the Volta Region are said to be defecating indiscriminately in the open with impunity, not only on campus but also in the neighbourhoods due to lack of adequate and decent toilets .
This became the subject matter for discussion at the last quarterly meeting of the Congress of Ho West Paramount Chiefs and Queens at Dzolo-Kpuita during the yuletide.
Osie Adza Tekpor VII, President of the congress who touched on the issue, revealed that some of the students dug shallow holes in the open and defecated in them while others did it in polythene bags.
As a result, the campus and the surroundings of the town are strewn with excrement with the accompanying stench, and health risks making life unbearable in the town, which is the traditional capital of the Avatime Traditional Area.
Osie Adza Tekpor said the sordid and soaring trend was not only disgraceful but also an affront to the status of the second cycle institution.
Worse still, he said, the state of affairs coincided with ongoing efforts by the Avatime traditional authorities to woo foreign and local investors to the area to revive potato, apple and grape cultivation, and also perk up the tourism industry at Avatime.
“The nasty scenes and the surroundings filled with repugnant odour would turn away the investors,” the Osie bemoaned.
Meanwhile, Onetsitsie Osei Yawa VIII, Paramount Queen of Avatime sought to know how students of a second cycle institution could be so morally depraved that they threw polythene bags with excrement even into church premises.
“This is horrifying, indeed,” she grieved.
The congress called on the assembly to rise up and address the problem by providing toilets in the school this month, before all the students returned to campus.
Responding, the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Ernest Victor Apau gave the assurance that, the problem would be tackled as a matter of priority, not only at AVASEC but also at other senior high schools in the district.
He said that, a water closet project at Kpedze Senior High School was nearing completion.
From Alberto Mario Noretti, Dzolo-Kpuita
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Steps underway to repeal L.I 2462 – Prez assures
President John Dramani Mahama has assured Ghanaians that steps are underway to repeal Legislative Instrument 2462 as part of efforts to protect the country’s forests and water bodies.
During his media encounter at the Jubilee House, the president explained that the repeal will formalise the ban on mining in forest reserves and strengthen enforcement against illegal mining.
He stressed that his administration is committed to safeguarding the environment, reclaiming degraded reserves, and deploying more personnel to protect river bodies across the country.
By: Jacob Aggrey
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9 forest reserves recovered from illegal mining – President Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has announced the recovery of nine forest reserves from illegal mining under his government’s intensified environmental protection drive.
Addressing journalists at the Jubilee House, the president explained that hundreds of excavators, water pumps and other equipment have been seized as part of the operation, while degraded areas are being reclaimed and restored.
He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to end mining in protected areas, deploy more personnel to safeguard river bodies and strengthen laws to secure Ghana’s natural resources for future generations.
This notwithstanding, President Mahama revealed that two of the retrieved forest reserves had gone back into the hands of illegal miners, however, adequate measures have been put in place to reclaim them.
By: Jacob Aggrey
