Regional News of Monday, 3 March 2003

Source: gna

Apinkra raises funds to build a teachers' village

The chiefs and people of Apinkra in the Bosomtwe-Atwima-Kwanwoma district realised 15 million cedis at a fund-raising harvest in aid of the construction of a teachers' village in the town.

According to Mr Aikins Addai Poku, assemblyman for Apinkra, the construction of the teachers' village was necessitated by the fact that the teachers in the town lived in Kumasi and therefore, commuted daily between Kumasi and the town.

The situation, he pointed out, was undermining teaching and learning since the teachers came to school late everyday and that they arrived at school between 9 am and 10 am.

Mr Poku said the project was estimated at about 150 million cedis and that the Social Investment Fund (SIF) will bear 75 percent of the total cost while the Bosomtwe-Atwima-Kwanwoma District Assembly will contribute 15 percent and the community will pay 10 percent of the cost.

He said the community had targeted to collect 40 million cedis through such harvests and explained that 15 million cedis out of the 40 million cedis would be used to pay the community's 10 percent contribution and the remaining used for the town's drainage system.

Mr Poku advised the people to pay their taxes so as to avoid employing the use of law enforcement agencies to harass them and warned that the assembly personnel would soon go round on revenue mobilisation drive and would not spare rate defaulters.

He appealed to parents to make the education of their children a priority since that was the best legacy they could bequeath their children.

Mr William Boateng, the Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), praised the people of Apinkra for being the leading community that paid their electricity bills promptly.

He advised the people to use electricity wisely so as to cut down on their bills and urged parents to teach their children proper use of electricity.

He promised to assist in the replacement of a broken-down transformer for the area.