Residents and students of Apowa cry over abandoned library project

The Apowa community library that was to serve as gateway to knowledge acquisition now plays host to weeds, reptiles and poor family of deaf and dumb as the project has been abandoned for the past 13 years.

The library, established 13 years ago with the aim of serving and promoting learning in schools in the Ahanta West municipality has roofs ripped-up, destroyed furniture and cracks all over.

The dilapidated state of the edifice according to a community member is due to conflict surrounding the land of the library project.

“Thieves have removed some of the roofing sheets and furniture’s because there is no security, the deaf and dumb family are the ones who are taking care of the place now”, he said.

The facility which was built by the former Member of Parliament for the Ahanta West Constituency Mr Samuel Johnfiah 13 years ago, has become a white elephant.

Margret Mensah, a form two student at the Apowa Methodist Junior High School, appealed to the Ahanta West Education Directorate and the Minister of Education to renovate the library to promote the education system in the Municipality.

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 4.6 states that: “by 2030, it should ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy an Indicator that “proportion of a population in a given age group achieving at least a fixed level of proficiency in functional (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills.”

The assemblyman of Aworozo electoral area, Mr. Cephas Essilfie Ansah, lamented that, the abandoned library would have served many communities surrounding Apowa, but due to the conflicts surrounding the land on which the library was built that has resulted in the abandoning of the library to the mercy of rain and sunshine.

Mr Ansah therefore called on the chief of Apowa and the land owners to solve any conflict surrounding the library which has been left unattended for several years to help promote the education system in Apowa and Ahanta West as whole.

However, Mr. Kweku Dekyi, a member of the family who owns the land gave assurance that, the family was ever ready to hand over the land to the Ahanta West Municipal Assembly, "if only both the Ahanta West Municipal Assembly and the chief called on the family to resolve the differences between them".

But as Ghana continue to grapple with efforts to increase the literacy rate a dedication towards this abandoned Library would be of immense help.