The Students’ Representative Council (SRC) of the University of Ghana (UG), has indefinitely suspended its intended demonstration.
This follows an assurance by management to address their concerns.
On Wednesday, the SRC said it would by the end of this week hold a demonstration to compel management to address the challenges with the school’s shuttle services and the operationalization of power plants on campus.
[contextly_sidebar id=”2OUHwE8yTpxGzb5AaXjnHnek4CPJogAe”]But shortly after the threat, management met with the SRC executives and discussed a number of measures and actions to ensure that the issues are resolved amicably.
Addressing the students after the meeting, Sylvester Amoako Quarshie, President of the SRC, said the demonstration has been suspended because the SRC and management have reached a consensus in the interest of students.
“We want to say as SRC that we will hold our guns, we will relax, we will cooperate with students and management to make sure that our SRC will be better. All indications of demonstrations are hereby suspended until further notice”.
Management to operationalize power plants
Management of the University of Ghana has indicated its preparedness to service all power plants of the traditional halls of residence in the coming weeks.
Since the beginning of the 2014/2015 academic year, freshers have been billed a one-time amount of Ghc100 each for the procurement of power plants to provide back-up electricity during power cuts.
Students have over the years now been agitating about the non-operationalization of these power plants to serve its intended purpose.
But university management has promised to singlehandedly bear the full cost of fueling the generator sets till the end of the 2018/2019 academic year, after which it will develop a road-map with students for subsequent fueling.
Shuttle services on campus resumes
Also, extra shuttles obtained by the SRC which were grounded by management have resumed fully.
The buses were put on the road by the SRC to augment the inadequate fleet being operated by the shuttle service provider on campus.
We’ll demonstrate over shuttle services and power plants – UG SRC President
Earlier, Sylvester Amoako Quarshie said his outfit would have protested to get a favourable response from university authorities on the matter.
The students had accused the SRC of doing too little to reduce the burden on them.
Speaking on Radio Univers, Mr. Quarshie debunked assertions that the SRC has been ‘weak’ to fight for the interest of the student front.
“It is long overdue, the discussion started from June. We have had meetings with all the relevant stakeholders. I am not leading a weak front.”
“If we cannot get a response from management by Friday, we will go through due process and go for a peaceful demonstration. We will call our people, we will put them together and it [demonstration] will happen”, he disclosed.
Exhaust all internal processes – UG Vice Chancellor
Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, has admonished the students to consider the use of dialogue to drum home their demands.
The Vice-Chancellor also urged the SRC to ensure that it makes use of all internal processes to have their issues addressed.
According to him, management is committed to providing an enabling environment to enhance academic and student life.
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By: Nii Larte Lartey/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
