ICT CENTRE ALMOST COMPLETED (PAGE 29)

Story: Vincent Adedze, Tamale

WORK on the proposed GH¢100,000 Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Centre project in Tamale is nearing completion.
Currently, the contractors are putting finishing touches to the project.
The work began in July last year but it delayed for seven months because of the inability of the various stakeholders to conclude tendering processes on schedule.
The Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, performed the sod-cutting ceremony for the project in December 2006, witnessed by a cross-section of residents, including the youth, of the metropolis.
The facility, when completed, will help train the youth in ICT skills to empower them to fit into the job market.
The project is being executed by Dagban Construction Works, based in Tamale, and funded by the Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GC-NET), a private company that is into ICT software and hardware.
The Site Foreman, Mr Alhassan Damba, told this reporter that work was expected to be completed this year.
According to him, what was left to be done included plastering and wiring, adding, “We have redesigned the project to provide toilet facilities for the physically challenged in the metropolis.”
Mr Damba further stated that “for now we do not have any problem and there is no interference to hamper the smooth execution of the project”.
Investigations by this reporter showed that work was progressing steadily and that a fence had been built around the facility.
The Regional Co-ordinator of the National Youth Council (NYC), Mr Ziblim Shaibu, in an interview, commended the Tamale Metropolitan Chief Executive, the Vice-President and GC-NET for their commitment to the execution of the project.
He promised to ensure that the facility was put to good use but appealed to the government to adequately resource the NYC to enable it to perform its mandatory roles effectively.
The co-ordinator equally urged Parliament and the government to “promulgate the National Youth Policy”.
“We also want the government to take a critical look at providing a boys’ dormitory and feeding grant for the Nalerigu Youth Leadership and Skills Training Institute,” Mr Shaibu further appealed.
Touching on reports about the alleged defilement of two pupils by a police constable in the metropolis, Mr Shaibu stressed the need for human rights activists to take up the issue to ensure that justice prevailed.