KNUST to take over College of Renewable Natural Resources

Kumasi Feb. 11 GNA --- Negotiations are going on for the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to take over the College of Renewable Natural Resources in Sunyani to become the Faculty of Forestry Resources under the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The University will also be annexing the Wood Industries Training Centre at Akyawkrom in the Ejisu-Juaben District. Professor Kwesi Andam, Vice Chancellor of the KNUST who announced these said the University was also considering the establishment of an Accra Campus of the KNUST.

He was delivering the state of the University's address at the Great Hall of the University on Wednesday. It was aimed at giving stakeholders an appraisal of planned developments as well as projects and programmes it undertook for 2003-2004 academic year.

Professor Andam said the university would organise an Aerospace Week jointly with the Washington State University and Boeing Corporation in March this year, with the view to assembling small-sized aircraft, fly it and leave it for teaching purposes.

He said experts from Boeing Corporation, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and the Ghana Airforce have helped the university authorities to demarcate a piece of land near the university to serve as an airport. The Vice Chancellor said currently there were about 25 different infrastructure developments going on in the university which were all geared towards accommodating the ever increasing student population as well as to support the on-going restructuring of the university. Professor Andam called on stakeholders and corporate bodies to step up efforts at generating additional resources to augment government's subvention and internally generated funds which he said remained the major source pf income of the university.

He said for instance that while the university's total revenue for 2003-2004 stood at 137 billion cedis, its expenditure was 136 billion cedis which left a surplus of about One billion cedis. Feb. 11 05