News
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful inaugurates ICT laboratory for Sefwi Wiawso SHS
The Minister of Communications and Digitilisation,Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful,has inaugurated a fully-furnished Information and Communication Technology (ICT) laboratory for the Sefwi-Wiawso Senior High School in the Western North Region.
The laboratory, which has 40 new desktop computers with accessories, was funded by the Ghana Investment for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) and would provide ICT opportunities to schools, as part of the efforts to bridge digital gap in the country.
In her address last Friday, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful expressed government’s commitment to equip young people with skills they needed to succeed in life.
She noted that the current technological revolution emphasised the critical role technology played in the digital world, hence the need for everybody to be ICT literate.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful commended Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, the Member of Parliament for Sefwi Wiawso and other prominent indigenes, for the role they played to make the project a reality.
She again advised the students to use the laboratory profitably, especially for research and be abreast current technological advancements.
“The government is committed to provide students with the right skills, devices and training to compete favourably with their peers in other countries.” the minister assured.
The Administrator of GIFEC,MrPrince Ofosu Sefah, spoke about the significant role of ICT in development and commended President Nana Akufo-Addo for ensuring that school children acquired the relevant skills to make them functional in the society
GIFEC,he added, was facilitating teaching and learning of ICT in Basic and Senior High Schools through the deployment of ICT equipment and internet facilities.
“We are doing this with the school connectivity project, through which desktops, printers and scanners are being provided for over 1,020 schools across the country.” he said.
Mr Sefah said 26 Basic and Senior High schools had benefited from the project in the Western North Region while more than 7,000 people, including teachers, students, artisans, head porters and identifiable women groups had also been trained in basic ICT skills in the region.
The Assistant Headmaster of the school,Mr Benjamin Ballow, reported that the school offered ICT as an elective subject and believedthe ICT facility would help in teaching and learning.
He called on other organisations to assist the school which was established in 1961 and now had a student population of 1,877, with 79 teaching and 39 non-teaching staff.
Mr Balloe expressed gratitude to the government and prayed it continued to assist the school to cater for the increasing enrolment due to the Free Senior High School Policy.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful had inspected works on the Government of Ghana Funded Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project, at Abrabra and Nkyonya, as part of her tour of GIFEC project sites in the Sefwi Wiawso Municipality of the Western North Region.
She inaugurated a Rural Telephony Project site at Mile 3, in the same district.
The Rural Telephony Project is implemented by GIFEC in partnership with Huawei and Mobile Network Operators ((MNOs) through a Tripartite Partnership Arrangement, which offers a significant reduction in Cost of Ownership and Maintenance by as much as 70 per cent.
The project seeks to provide telecommunications infrastructure and service to communities where MNOs are unable to deploy due to economic or other constraints.
During a courtesy call on the Paramount Chief Of Sefwi Wiawso Okatakyie Kwesi Bumagama II, the minister indicated that her tourof Western North, was to get a first- hand information on the Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion project and visit also the training centres of the Girls-in-ICT project.
The Girls in ICT programme, she mentioned, had benefitted 900 girls in the region and 100 from Prestea- Huni Valley in the Western Region.
She said : “The ministry aims at expanding the rural telephony project to the various underserved communities.We will ensure that rural areas without networks are connected. Without network, one cannot takepart in the digital activities.”
Accompanying the Minister were the Chief Director, Mrs. Magdalene Apenteng, Director, Research Statistics and Information Management (RSIM), Mr. Alfred Nortey; Mr Prince Sefa, Administrator, GIFEC; Ms Eva Andoh-Opoku, Deputy Administrator, GIFEC and the Municipal Chief Executive of Sefwi Wiawso , Hon. Lewis Owusu Agyapong.
From Clement Adze Boye, Sefwi Wiawso
The Executive Director of DAD Micro-Credit Limited (MCL), Mrs Christiana S. Dzitse-Awuku, has called for urgent and collective action to prevent the recurring loss of lives and destruction caused by flooding during the rainy season.
Reacting to the devastating effects of last Monday’s heavy rainfall in parts of the country, she expressed condolences to families who lost loved ones and sympathised with residents whose homes, businesses and livelihoods were affected.
In a statement signed by Mrs Dzitse-Awuku and copied to The Spectator in Accra on Friday, she said although rainfall was a natural occurrence, the destruction associated with it was largely preventable.
According to her, DAD Micro-Credit Limited provides financial support to owners of small and medium scale enterprises, the majority of whom are women.
She noted that the recent heavy rains have significantly affected these businesses, resulting in many clients losing their capital and facing challenges rebuilding their livelihoods.
She noted that clogged drains, indiscriminate dumping of refuse, poor drainage infrastructure, and buildings constructed on waterways, and disregard for environmental and planning regulations had worsened the impact of heavy rains over the years.
“This is a wake-up call to all of us. The responsibility does not rest solely on government institutions. It is a shared duty,” she stated.
Ms Dzitse-Awuku urged citizens to desist from dumping waste into drains, maintain clean surroundings, and comply with environmental and planning regulations to reduce the risk of flooding.
She also called on the relevant authorities to intensify efforts to desilt drains regularly, remove unauthorised structures obstructing waterways without fear or favour, and strictly enforce city planning laws.
According to her, investing in preventive measures would save lives and reduce the enormous cost of rebuilding communities after disasters.
She appealed to government, local authorities, traditional leaders, civil society organisations and all Ghanaians to work together to build safer, cleaner and more resilient communities.
Ms Dzitse-Awuku stressed that the country must not wait for another rainy season to revisit the same challenges, emphasising that every life lost to flooding was one too many.
She offered prayers for bereaved families and those who had lost their homes and property, expressing hope that the nation would be spared further tragedies.
“The Ghana we develop today will be our safe haven tomorrow,” she stated.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
Last week’s heavy rains that got parts of Accra heavily flooded have left residences and offices in difficult situations as they try to gather the remains of their properties.
“Life after the flood has been difficult because we have lost a lot of things; some were also destroyed. We are currently gathering the pieces left but as to whether they would serve any use, we can’t tell for now,” a resident of Adabraka told The Spectator on Wednesday.
Along the North Industrial Area enclave, a number of office structures were flooded with water rising to unimaginable height.
The New Times Corporation (NTC) and other nearby establishments were not spared the flood ordeal as they became receptacles for excess water that were supposed to flow in the choked gutters around.
For workers of the NTC, the days after the flood were ones for cleaning and putting the offices in shape.
Staff had to get documents, furniture and other equipment dried, affecting production on the first day after the flood.
The situation was similar to what was seen in nearby offices where The Spectator visited.
Visits to some communities around ‘Circle’, Alajo, and Kaneshie revealed heaps of rubbish left behind by the flood waters.
In some of the areas, floodwaters have negatively impacted streets, gutters and homes with those areas littered with plastic waste, broken furniture, mud and other debris.
In some of the huge drains, vehicles were seen stuck in heavy mud.
This waste and stagnant pools of water have become a major concern for residents as they generated an unpleasant odour. A number of residents in the affected areas have since called for urgent intervention from local authorities.
Some residents said the waste has still blocked drains, increasing the risk of further flooding should the rains come again.
Others expressed concern that the accumulated rubbish could become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and thereby, expose the communities to diseases such as malaria and cholera.
At the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and Odawna market areas, traders continue to tidy up their stalls and shops.
By Linda Abrefi Wadie
