Accra, Feb. 22, GNA - The African Institute of Journalism and Communications (AIJC), would hold a sod-cutting ceremony on Saturday, February 24, 2007 to officially launch the start of work on the construction of its university campus.

The ceremony would be performed at the site of the new campus by Professor Kwesi Yankah, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana and Chairman of the Governing Council of AIJC.

A statement signed by Mr Ato Amoaning-Annan, Director of the Institute said the site, a 45-acre plot of land, is located nine kilometres off the Tema Motorway Roundabout on the Accra-Lome Road.

The new update university campus, which has been designed to give students an exiting learning environment and state-of-the-art facilities, would accommodate the institute's diploma and degree programmes from October this year.

The construction work has been planned to ensure the completion of the first phase by the end of September this year to make room for the relocation of the institute from its present accommodation on the ground floor of Ghana Multi-Media Centre (former Ghana House) on High Street, Accra. The statement said the first phase would provide a three-storey administration block, two three-storey classroom blocks to house four lecture halls and eight seminar rooms, a 100-seater library, a 100-seater computer laboratory, two residential hostel blocks and a residential block containing four flats for staff.

The second and third phases would provide more facilities including two more three-storey classroom blocks, an internet caf=E9, an auditorium/theatre hall, sports stadium, a clinic, a canteen and radio/television studios and printing press.

There would also, eventually, be more residential blocks, a laundry, a tennis court, a senior staff club, a consultancy block, a shopping mall, a bank and a post office.

Other future additions would include a university primary school and a university senior secondary school, the statement added.