Navrongo (U/E), March 26, GNA - President John Evans Atta Mills at the weekend said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Government was poised to building a solid and resilient economy. He said the creation of jobs, raising the standards of living of the people and above all providing skills for the youth was the best ingredient for development.

President Mills said this when he cut a sod for work to start on a three million Ghana cedis multi-purpose auditorium at the University for Development studies (UDS), Navrongo Campus, as part of his three-day working visit to the Upper East Region. President Mills also called for the installation of street lights and construction of pavements for the university.

He stated that producing quality graduates was a priority since the youth of today were future leaders of the country. President Mills said government was aware of the numerous problems facing universities in the country and was ready to participate in bringing the necessary changes required for them to develop.

Professor Haruna Yakubu, Vice Chancellor of UDS, called for urgent infrastructural development of the school in view of the fact that it started with old buildings and had not seen any significant improvement in infrastructure.

He appealed for assistance from the Ghana Education Trust Fund to help the university expand its infrastructure. He said the school started with only 39 students in 1996 and currently has a population of over 80,000. It is able to accommodate only 400 students out of 4,331 students on the Navrongo Campus. The President also inspected an ultra modern school project that was at various levels of construction at the Our Lady of Lourdes Senior High School in Navrongo.

Reverend Sister Martina Naameh, Headmistress of the school, appealed for a bus and a computer laboratory as the school was far from Navrongo Town and students could not continue to travel long distances to other schools for their practical lessons.