Twin-City Mentally Challenged school, death trap.

Ekuasi, (W/R) Dec. 15 - GNA - Mrs Elisabeth Ameworwor, Headmistress of the Twin City School for the Mentally Challenged said the schools existing classrooms and dormitories had become death traps. She said, while many of the staircases were falling off, most of the roofs leak profusely and makes life unbearable for the children.

Mrs Ameworwor said these when Madam Sophia Horner-Sam, Deputy Western Regional Minister presented food items and disinfectants to the school for the children's Christmas party at Ekuasi on Wednesday on behalf of the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC). The items, valued at six million cedis include five bags of rice, two bags of sugar, biscuits, disinfectants, cooking oil and some refreshments. Mrs. Ameworwor said the absence of a resident nurse, coupled with the dilapidated classroom structures, was endangering the lives of the children. She said epileptic incidents were among the reasons why a resident nurse was urgently needed to assist the school.

Mrs Ameworwor said the hilly area of the school had also made water supply a major problem, especially during the dry season. The headmistress said the present premises and infrastructure of the school, which had been declared a disaster zone over the years, was gradually crumbling and efforts must be made to move the school to its new site. Mrs Ameworwor hinted that a new school site had been acquired near the Sekondi College and through the assistance of "Kinder Mission", a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) based in Germany, a six-unit classroom block had been constructed while works are ongoing on a 40-bedroom dormitory. She therefore appealed to the general public to come to the aid of the school to enable it to move out of its present premises.

Madam Horner-Sam, expressed her appreciation to the teachers for their devotion to duty and urged them to keep it up. She assured them that government had not abandoned the special schools and would respond to their needs soon.