Regional News of Tuesday, 5 November 2002

Source: GNA

Salvage Bonwire Sec-Tech From Collapse - Queenmother

Nana Nyarko Frimpomaa, Queenmother of Bonwire in the Ejisu-Juaben District, has appealed to the government to address the serious accommodation and water problems facing the Bonwire Secondary/Technical School to save it from imminent collapse.

She said apart from the acute water problem, boarders slept in classrooms for the lack of dormitories, a situation that had become a drawback to the school's enrolment drive.

Nana Frimpomaa was speaking at a grand durbar of chiefs and people in the Ejisu-Juaben District in honour of Mr. Sampson Kwaku Boafo, Ashanti Regional Minister, to round off his two-day official visit to the area.

According to the queenmother, the poor conditions, coupled with inadequate facilities, had rendered the school unattractive to potential students in the catchment area.

Nana Frimpomaa stressed the need for practical steps to bring the school out of its present state of deprivation and neglect and to create the necessary environment for effective academic work.

She praised President John Agyekum Kufuor for honouring his pre-election promise to improve the condition of the road leading to the town and the construction of a clinic for the community.

Mr. Boafo told the people not to allow the economic benefits they derive from the thriving Kente industry to overshadow the promotion of education in the area.

He noted that they could add more value to their products and better manage their businesses if they achieved reasonable levels of education.

Mr. Boafo said it was the aim of the government to put Bonwire at the centre of a major road by-pass to boost the Kente trade.

"It is in this connection that the Kumasi-Antoa-Bonwire, Asonomaso-Bonwire and Bonwire-Baaman roads are being put into good shape," he said.

Mr. Yaw Ahenkora-Afrifa, the district chief executive, announced that four communities - Ejisu, Bonwire, Juaben and Kwamo - are to benefit from a ?2.4 billion district town project.

Under the project, each of the beneficiary communities would be provided with a school and a trade centre.

He appealed to the judicial committees of the Ejisu and Juaben traditional councils to ensure speedy adjudication of chieftaincy cases before them to sustain the prevailing peace in the district.

Nana Aboagye Agyei II, Omanhene of Ejisu traditional area, called for co-operation and understanding between chiefs and assembly members to ensure rapid development of the area.