Director of Operations at the National Security Secretariat, Richard Jakpa, together with the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Daffiama-Bussie-Issa, James Wor, has inspected construction works on a major STEM school project in the district.
The project has been described as the single most important and biggest investment in Daffiama-Bussie-Issa (DBI) since its creation.
Funded by the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), the project was lobbied for the district by Mr Jakpa.
The sprawling campus will feature a three-storey, 18-unit classroom block, a two-storey science laboratory, a two-storey library and ICT hub, and a two-storey administration block.
After touring the site with the contractor, Mr Jakpa said he was impressed with the pace and quality of work.
“We took a walk with the contractor, and so far, from the time I cut the sod for the commencement of the project to today, I’ve seen very fast progress. He has done so much. He has done well, and I’m very impressed with the quality of the work. You can really see the quality of the columns, the concrete, everything, and I’m very, very impressed,” he said.
Mr Jakpa expressed optimism that the project would be completed on schedule, with commissioning expected by the end of June next year.
“I’m hoping that we’ll be able to meet the deadline so that by the middle of next year, by the end of June, God willing, we should be preparing to come and commission the school. His Excellency will be here, God willing, to commission the first STEM SHS in the northern part of the country,” he said.
He said the school would provide young Junior High School (JHS) graduates with the opportunity to pursue science and technology education and develop into engineers and science-oriented graduates capable of contributing to national development.
According to him, Ghana needs to place greater emphasis on science education rather than continue producing graduates whose training is predominantly in the humanities.
“We’ll have a lot of graduates in this country, but a lot of them are humanities-oriented graduates. We need to start focusing more on science graduates to be able to propel this country to the next level,” he said.
Mr Jakpa said science and technology were essential to developing local manufacturing and providing practical solutions to challenges facing the agricultural sector.
“It’s science that can help us manufacture basic things for the agro-industry, so that our farmers, because we are in an agrarian economy, should be able to access basic equipment and products to reduce post-harvest losses,” he added.
Beyond the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa project, Mr Jakpa is advocating a nationwide initiative to establish 10 STEM senior high schools in 10 districts every year until every district in Ghana has one.
He said the initiative could be implemented gradually as a long-term national development project.
“If we are able to build one STEM SHS in all the districts in the country as an objective of government, it won’t happen in one day, but we can build 10 at a time. Every year, we award contracts for 10. In the next 20 years or so, we should have all our districts with one STEM SHS each. It can be a 20-year project,” he said.
For his part, the DCE for Daffiama-Bussie-Issa, James Wor, commended the contractor for the quality of work and said he was satisfied with the progress made so far.
He used the inspection to respond to claims on social media suggesting that little or no work was taking place at the project site.
“My heart is most impressed by the quality of work. You see the materials on site, you see the work they are doing; it is top-notch, and I’m highly impressed,” he said.
Mr Wor urged those spreading what he described as false information about the project to desist, insisting that the level of work on site was evident.
“I want to use this forum to plead with and urge those who want to send DBI backwards by spreading false propaganda to stop. I’ve seen on social media where people indicate that there is nothing happening on site. We are all here. You, the media people, are here with your cameras, and you can see the level of work,” he added.
He described the school as the biggest and most important investment in the district since its creation and appealed to residents to support the project and the contractor.
“This is a laudable project. It’s a very important project. I call it the single most important and biggest investment we have in DBI at the moment since its creation. And so, let’s all support it. Let’s support the contractor,” he said.
The DCE also praised the contractor for what he described as his commitment to corporate social responsibility, including plans to renovate the police quarters in Issa, support the local health facility and engage local artisans in the construction work.
He said the contractor had provided opportunities for artisans within the district to contribute to the project while receiving training and payment for their work.
“He has taken certain things up as part of his social responsibility. For instance, he’s indicated that he will renovate our police quarters for us in Issa. He is also making good use of our local artisans. Many of the people you see working here are artisans within the district whom his technical team is training, and that is good. They are also being paid,” Mr Wor said.
He urged residents to have confidence in local workers, saying their contribution to the project demonstrated their ability to deliver quality work.
“We shouldn’t underrate our own people. You look at these quarters being done, look at the quality. They are workers from DBI whom I recommended to him, and he took them on. They are doing a good job,” he added.
The Managing Director of TMJ Ghana Limited, the contractor undertaking the project, Jonah Johafoka, said the school was particularly important to his company because of its commitment to bringing high construction standards to the Upper West Region.
He said although the contract was awarded through GETFund, the company had a personal interest in ensuring that the project met high standards, given its roots in the region.
“This contract, as you all know, is from GETFund, but personally, it’s so dear to us, not just because it’s the first STEM school here, but because we, as contractors, have been based in Accra and want to bring Accra’s standards to the Upper West Region, where we come from,” he said.
Mr Johafoka identified heavy rainfall as the main challenge affecting construction, explaining that the weather had made it difficult to transport materials and equipment to the site.
He said some construction equipment had become stuck in the mud during the rainy season, delaying work, but conditions had since improved.
“We’ve not had many challenges except the weather. We had severe rains, and bringing materials to the site, as you see today, was not possible a month ago because of the rain. We had our dozers fall down here. We had a tipper stuck here for weeks before we were able to pull it out. So, the rains disturbed us, but now we’ve picked up, and we hope to move forward,” he said.
The contractor disclosed that the project was approximately 25 per cent complete, with the foundation stage, which he described as the most critical part of the construction, completed.
“We are around 25 per cent complete because the foundation is the most critical stage, and we are through with that. As you can see, the columns are coming up. In a week’s time, we should be working on the columns and decking,” he added.
On payments, Mr Johafoka said he did not anticipate any major difficulties and was expected to submit the company’s first payment certificate within a week.
Mr Wor concluded by expressing gratitude to President John Dramani Mahama, GETFund, Mr Jakpa for lobbying for the project, and the contractor for the work done so far.
When completed, the school is expected to expand access to science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in Daffiama-Bussie-Issa and the wider northern part of the country, while helping to develop the critical thinkers, engineers and innovators needed to support Ghana’s development.
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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
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