PIAC advocates more infrastructure for schools

By
Godfred A. Polkuu, GNA

Navrongo (U/E) Aug. 21, GNA – The Public
Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has expressed concern about the
infrastructural development in Senior High Schools (SHSs) in the Northern,
Upper East and Upper West Regions.

They have therefore called on government to
expand their facilities to cater for the teeming number of students.

Dr Thomas Kojo Stephens, Vice Chairman of PIAC
who disclosed this at a Town Hall Meeting organised by PIAC in the Kassena –
Nankana Municipality of the Upper East Region, said when PIAC visited some
schools in the regions, it realised the need for government to concentrate and
improve infrastructure.

He noted “PIAC has expressed concern that
while it is good to provide them with the supplies, the books, food etcetera,
it is important that you also pay attention to the infrastructural development,
in terms of the dormitories, dining halls etc.”

He said “when we went to a places like
Bunkurugu, we realised that the dining hall, and the dormitory facilities were
woefully lacking,” and indicated that headmasters of various schools visited,
relied on monies from second and third year students to run their schools until
government released funds.

“So their concern is that when SHS one and SHS
two becomes free, and government funds are not yet disbursed, what are they
going to rely on during those difficult periods. Those are all concerns that
have been coming up as we engage in our project inspections,” Dr Stephens said.

The Vice Chairman said PIAC during its
inspection also realised that there were lots of shoddy works done in terms of
six classroom blocks they inspected, “so we have not really gotten a lot of
value for money in terms of the classroom projects that we inspected.”

He said there were cost overruns in terms of
project execution, especially road construction, mainly because government was
unable to pay constructors on time and so the budgeted amount for projects
after completion were usually “ballooned, and that is one area where we have
lost a lot of revenue.”

He said PIAC would work with the Economic and
Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and Office of the Special Prosecutor to ensure
that people who misappropriated funds were prosecuted, and hinted that some
cases had already been referred to the Auditor General for further investigations.

Mr Affail Monney, President of the Ghana
Journalists Association (GJA) and member of PIAC, said the GJA’s role as member
of PIAC was not only to heighten the accountability dimension, but to put the
activities of PIAC in the public domain.

“The people ought to know how their resources
are spent, the people ought to make contributions on how to govern the oil
sector to ensure that every Ghanaian benefit from our own resources,” he said,
and emphasised that “members of PIAC do not know it all, they are not
repository of wisdom.”

Mr Monney said no institution could play
accountability role better than the media, “we have what it takes, we are not
shackled by any law, we are not feted by anything, we say things as they are,
and we exercise over sight responsibility over the key players including
government.”

Mr Rockson Ayine Bukari, the Upper East
Regional Minister, commended members of PIAC for fulfilling one of its
important mandates of providing space and platform for the public to debate the
spending, management and use of petroleum revenues against national development
priorities.

He called on community leaders and members to
take keen interest in projects, and work with implementers to take on their
concerns, adding that Town Hall Meetings were avenues to seek stakeholders’
contributions  as active citizens so that
PIAC could advocate on their behalf.

GNA

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