The Paramount Chief of Gbankoni community in the Bunkprugu district of the Northern Region has implored the government to conduct a needs assessment before disbursing oil revenues for some earmarked projects.
According to chief Haruna Nasinmong Laar II, the government should prioritize fixing the nation’s infrastructure deficit, especially in the education sector.
[contextly_sidebar id=”9mMr5F5ZpcHFSIDglNhqYE1NpKldyv19″]”Since education is one of the priorities of government and part of the oil money is used to fund it, they should improve on it, either than that, our children are suffering.”
He made the call at a public forum organized by the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) as part of its fact-finding team’s week-long inspection tour of oil revenue funded projects in the Northern Region.
Chief Haruna Nasinmong Laar II bemoaned inadequate infrastructure at most deprived second cycle institutions and pleaded with the government to fix the problem.
“Congestion of children in their dormitories exposes them to insecurity and dangers. The students are at the mercy of the bad weather and infectious diseases.”
“Some dormitories where these students lay their heads in the night don’t even have louvers on the window frames.”
He mentioned the Wulugu and the Bunkprugu Senior High Schools to buttress his statement saying, “I visited my son in one of the SHSs, and it was so pathetic. Our children, we are sending them to kill them, not to educate them, you will get to a dormitory, no louvers nothing and the children are parked more than 20 or 30 in a particular dormitory.”
“It is disheartening. The school is Wulugu SHS; it is very serious. Bunkprugu SHS is no exception. I think the government should sit-up,” he stated.
The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) team led by a Deputy Chairman of PIAC Dr. Thomas Kojo Stephens has so far visited Walewale, Bunkprugu, Yunyoo, and Binduri.
The team inspected projects including school blocks, dormitories, roads and steel bridges.
These include the 4.5 kilometers Walewale-Wungu road and the Binduri steel bridge constructed in the newly created Yunyoo/Nasuan district.
The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) is an independent statutory body mandated to promote transparency and accountability in the management of petroleum revenues in Ghana.
The committee has since its inception embarked on a general inspection of oil revenue projects.
The findings are compiled and a comprehensive report produced to inform the government’s next line of action regarding the disbursement of oil revenues.
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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citinewsroom.com/Ghana