Asankrangwa (W/R), March 16, GNA - The Western Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) on Monday presented a cheque for ten million cedis to victims of a recent fire outbreak at the girls dormitory annex of the Asankrangwa Secondary School in which 40 students lost their books and personal effects.

Total cost of damage to the building, a classroom converted into a temporary dormitory, and property of affected students, was estimated at 600 million cedis.

Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, the Regional Minister who presented the cheque to the school on behalf of the RCC at Asankrangwa, said the money was specifically meant to help affected students to procure some of the basic items they lost during the disaster.

He expressed the hope that the assistance would greatly lighten the burden that parents would have to go through to replace personal belongings such as dresses, shoes, "chop" boxes, trunks, mattresses and provision for their wards.

Mr Aidoo, an old student of the school, expressed his sympathy to the students and said they should try as quickly as possible to put their ordeal behind them and concentrate on their academic work towards the upcoming final examinations.

Mr Joseph Bagbin, headmaster of the school, received the cheque on behalf of the students and thanked the RCC for the gesture, describing it as " Very timely".

The Wassa Amenfi traditional council and the Wassa Amenfi district assembly have each donated six million cedis in aid of the affected students.

Mr Bagbin said he had formed a committee to investigate the cause of the fire that started around 2230 hours on February 17, 2004 soon after the students had closed from evening studies and were retiring to bed.

There were no injuries but "the students lost almost everything", he said, adding that, it was so intense that it affected the structure of the building.

He ruled out electricity as being the cause of the fire, since according to him there was power outage at the dormitory at that moment. He mentioned accommodation for staff and students, as well as water and inadequate staffing as major problems facing the school.

Addressing the staff and students later, Mr Aidoo assured them that he would personally see to the early completion of all on-going projects in the school which include dormitories and staff bungalows. He advised the students to take good care of school property. They should strictly observe disciplinary codes and work hard to become useful citizens in the future.

Mr Aidoo, accompanied by Mr. Alberto Terkyi, the District Chief Executive, inspected a new 75 million cedis computer laboratory of the school fitted with 34 computers and accessories.