Philanthropist builds 100,000-dollar school block for Pwalugu

Pwalugu (U/E), Aug. 17, GNA - The Upper East Regional Minister Mr Mahami Salifu, at the weekend commissioned a one hundred thousand dollar classroom block at Pwalugu, near Bolgatanga, which was single handedly constructed by a philanthropist, Mr Augustine Awuni, a citizen of the area.

The facility, which comprises six classrooms, a library, a store, an office and a three-seat capacity KVIP is for the Pwalugu Junior Secondary, which hitherto used a dilapidated structure as a classroom block.

In 2001, Mr Awuni constructed a similar facility for the primary school also at the same cost.

Commissioning the project, the Minister lauded the benefactor's gesture and called on others from the region and living abroad not to forget about the conditions they wallowed in before seeking greener postures.

He said Mr Awuni by his singular act of philanthropy has given an indication of the extent of love and care he has for his people, especially towards the education of the children in the area, adding that this shining example of public spiritedness should be emulated by all who could afford to give helping hand to society.

Mr. Salifu said government sees development of human capital through formal education as a critical component of its overall development agenda and conceded that it could not do all that alone and would therefore, continue to collaborate with organisations and individuals willing and able to cushion government effort in delivering quality education to the people.

He called on the various community members, Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) and School Management Committees (SMCs) to collaborate and make life worth living in the area for teachers through motivation by providing accommodation, and farmlands for them to work on in their spare time to supplement their income.

He further urged them to put in place maintenance schedules for the structures in order to give them a longer life span.

Mr Awuni said he started the construction of the primary school from savings he made from his salary as a lecturer in one of the universities in Japan where he is based. He said, at a point he could not continue with the structure for financial reasons and decided to raise funds through appeals.

He said Mr Masahiro Takano, a Japanese businessman, responded positively and funded the rest of the project, and added that although the man died about a year ago, he and the people of Pwalugu owe Mr Takano and his family an expression of gratitude.

The philanthropist noted that not everything about brain drain was bad, "in fact, there is nothing wrong at all in seeking greener posture abroad. What the seekers ought to do is to take a look at what compelled them to travel outside this country and try to resolve them. Individuals could give their communities similar facilities, then we would be addressing the problems confronting us."

Mr Awuni appealed to the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly to provide the school with electricity and water to enable him to procure computers for the community.

"My friends are willing to give me any number I request and I would do that immediately the electricity is extended to the school," he added.

He appealed to officials of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to allow him to name the school after Mr Takano, in his memory. The Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Rockson Ayine Bukari called on the people to be united and eschew confrontations and chieftaincy disputes in order to develop the area.

He told them that the Assembly is prepared to construct a dam in the area for irrigation purposes if the people would change their insistence that they would not allow the construction of the dam at the specified area because the area was the abode of their local gods.