Work on a new water treatment plant to address the water crisis that has hit Tamale and its environs over the years would commence next year, President John Dramani Mahama has announced.
“I want to assure you that next year, work is going to start on the Damango-Tamale water station. We are getting a new source point for water on the White Volta.
“So we are going to pump water from Yapei to bring additional millions of gallons of water into Tamale and once that project is finished, (Tamale’s) water problem will be a thing of the past,” he assured.
President Mahama gave this assurance in Tamale on Saturday when he joined thousands of students, staff, and alumni of the Ghana Senior High School (GHANASCO) to mark the school’s 65th anniversary.
The event was on the theme: “A legacy of excellence, inspiring future generations.”
An old student himself, President Mahama said, like many parts of Tamale, GHANASCO has for a long time been faced with water shortage, but the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission was set to construct four mechanised boreholes for the school in the meantime to ease their water challenges.
He said though the school had produced distinguished citizens who continue to contribute to national development, much has not been done to expand its infrastructure beyond what it was at its establishment.
“At the time we were students here, we were just about 400. Today, you are 10 times that number — 4,500 — but the facilities have not expanded too much beyond what they were when we were here,” he said.
As part of the expansion plan, President Mahama broke ground for the construction of a two-storey 12-unit classroom block, a two-storey boys’ dormitory, and a 5,000-seater multi-purpose assembly hall.
Work was also ongoing on a 1,000-seater multi-purpose AstroTurf sports complex being spearheaded by the First Lady, Mrs. Lordina Mahama, who is also an old student of the school.
President Mahama said steps were being taken to holistically improve secondary education across the country by propping up Category ‘C’ schools into Category ‘A’ and reviewing the school selection process to give students the confidence to attend any school anywhere.
He said with a dedicated funding source for the Free Senior High School policy, which hitherto wasn’t the case, the perennial food shortage which had hit schools in the past has been resolved to ensure students had nutritious meals.
President Mahama announced that government would introduce the poultry and livestock farming policy for schools to augment supplies from the Buffer Stock Company and urged GHANASCO to consider taking advantage of same.
The Headmaster of the School, Douglas Haruna Yakubu, said President Mahama’s journey from the classrooms of GHANASCO to the highest office of the land was a testament of the quality of education and character formation the school offers.
Mr. Yakubu was optimistic that if the facilities were provided, the school, which currently boasts a 90 per cent pass rate at the WASSCE, would perform even better as he appealed for increased teaching and non-teaching staff.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI & YAHAYA NUHU NADAA, TAMALE
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The post Tamale Water Crisis: Work on new treatment plant starts next year – President Mahama appeared first on Ghanaian Times.
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