Poly students protest against unhealthy environment

Sunyani, June 17, GNA - Students of Sunyani Polytechnic on Thursday boycotted lectures to protest against insanitary conditions on campus which they said had exposed them to snake bites and other health hazards.

Chanting war songs and wearing red armbands, the students swore that they would never go back to lectures until the polytechnic administration gave them firm assurance that the situation would be rectified.

A student, who pleaded anonymity, told the GNA that for some time now, the surroundings of the boys' hostel in particular had become so weedy that students virtually walked through "a forest" before reaching their lecture halls.

The KVIP and cesspit of the water closet systems of both the boys' and girls' hostels have also been full for months but the administration has failed to get them emptied.

The spokesman said, this semester alone, five students have been attacked by snakes on their way to the mice-filled KVIP or lecture halls.

The spokesman noted that it is not proper for the administration to maintain clean surroundings around the administration block and the lecture halls of the school while the sleeping places of the students are weedy and unsightly.

When contacted, the principal of the polytechnic, Dr Nsiah Gyabaah, denied that the administration had been insensitive to the concerns of the students.

He said the polytechnic administration has already contacted the Ministry of Health which has procured chemicals to spray the surroundings of the hostels to get rid of the snakes.

Dr Gyabaah said the Sunyani district assembly has also been contacted for a cesspit emptier but due to a tight schedule, one has not been made available to the polytechnic.

On the weedy nature of the hostel surroundings, he said a mower hired by the administration to do the weeding had broken down and the polytechnic was arranging for the services of inmates of the Sunyani Prisons to clear the bushes.

The principal said everything had been explained to the student leadership at a meeting yet they decided on the lecture boycott.