Government takes over UG’s GHc43m loan facility

Government has secured a loan facility of GHC 43 million for the University of Ghana (UG) to build four additional halls of residence to ease its accommodation challenges.

Professor Ernest Aryeetey, Vice Chancellor of UG disclosed this during a graduation ceremony to confer diploma and degrees on more than 5,000 students who successfully completed their programmes during the 2011/2012 academic year.

He said the university, over the last five years, has put up four additional halls of residence at a cost of GHC 43 million.

“I am happy to announce that, as part of government’s strong desire to improve the quality of education at Ghana’s premier university, the government of Ghana has agreed to take over the loan facility and service the principal and interest accrued”, he added.

Prof Aryeetey said the university is undertaking more infrastructural expansion projects to take care of the varied infrastructural needs of its people.

He mentioned re-roofing and rewiring of all staff housing units as well as the rehabilitation of some selected roads on the Legon campus.

There has been a ground breaking ceremony for the construction of a 600-bed teaching hospital for the university located close to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, he said.

The Vice Chancellor noted that the hospital would have state-of-the-art facilities for trauma and emergency services, heart surgery, medical imaging and a helipad.

According to Prof Aryeetey, “The project which cost 175 million dollars is being funded through a loan facility by the government of Ghana”.

The Vice Chancellor said the project would enhance interaction between students and faculty of the health sciences and the rest of the university.

The hospital will eventually be expanded into a 1,300 bed facility to ease the pressure on Korle-Bu teaching hospital as well as provide greater opportunity for inter-disciplinary research, he added.