FUND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS (PAGE 35)

TELECOMMUNICATIONS companies in the country have been called upon to give priority to the funding of community development projects that would have a long-term impact on the lives of the people as part of their corporate social responsibility.
  Such investments are also, expected to complement the efforts of the Government at providing basic social amenities for the people, especially those in poverty-stricken communities.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, who made the call, stated “the provision of amenities such as good drinking water, school buildings and health posts and the sponsoring of brilliant needy students, are monumental achievements that will serve the interest of generations who will remember your support to them”.
“While you spend millions of cedis in sponsoring various sports, entertainments and beauty pageant programmes that are transient in nature, you must also consider funding community projects that will help address the hardships facing the people”, Mr Ampofo stated.
He was speaking at the inauguration of a new six-unit classroom block for the Odumase Presbyterian Junior High School in the Lower Manya Krobo District of the Eastern Region.
The facility, funded by Zain Ghana, is furnished with tables and chairs, stocked with 30 computers connected to the Internet, a library, a staff common room, a headmaster’s office, washrooms, a rain harvesting system and a pumping machine.
The disability-friendly edifice, which is the only government public basic school in the district, will be made available for use by surrounding basic schools in the area.
The reconstruction of the 121-year-old building followed a publication of the plight of the school in the May 7, 2009 issue of the Daily Graphic that revealed that the school faced imminent closure since the crumbling structure was not only a danger to the students and teachers, but was also not conducive for teaching and learning.
The regional minister said since education was a shared responsibility of the state, corporate bodies, churches, non-governmental organisations and the communities, critical attention must be given to the provision of the necessary education infrastructure in communities that lacked such facilities.
“It is only through our collective resolve to provide the needed education infrastructure that we can hope to raise the standard of teaching and learning to guarantee a bright future for our future leaders”, he stated. 
In apparent reference to the commitment of Zain Ghana to support education infrastructure in rural communities in the country, Mr Ampofo said the provision of quality education, worthy investment in the human resource of the country, was to be embraced by stakeholders.
The minister was particularly full of praise for the passion shown by the management and team of Zain Ghana towards the early completion of the school building, saying “we can all create a wonderful world for the youth when we invest in their education today”.
According Mr Ampofo, though Zain Ghana had no offices in Koforidua, the capital of Eastern Region and all the 21 districts and municipalities in the area, “they have reached out to the needs of unfortunate pupils in the community by putting up a first class school building for Odumase Presbyterian JHS, a gesture worthy of emulation by the other networks in the country”.
The Chief Executive of Zain Ghana, Mr Chris Gabriel, expressed the delight of his outfit to be involved and associated with the reconstruction of the school building.