A five-unit classroom block built, by the African Ashanti Tours, (AAT) at Brenu Akyenim to improve access to preschool education in the in the Komenda-Edina- Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality has been inaugurated.
The West African-based vacation travel and tours organisation, spent Gh¢70, 000 on the nursery and kindergarten project, and additionally rehabilitated and refurbished a three-unit dilapidated classroom block, a storeroom/library and an office, built 30 years ago, and had become a death trap.
At a durbar of the chiefs and people of Brenu Akyenim to commission the projects, the Chief Executive of AAT, Mr. Mark Williams, said he visited the town years ago and realized it needed classroom blocks for nursery and kindergarten pupils.
He said the old school block, which was already in a deplorable condition was later destroyed by a storm that hit the area three months ago, hence the AAT’s decision to support the community.
One of the rooms would be used as a community training centre where AAT would employ qualified seamstresses to train girls who drop out of school. Adult education classes would also be organized there.
Mr. Williams pledged his organization’s support to maintain the structures and to build a health centre for them, and called on the community to take advantage of the project to send their children to school.
He said AAT had plans to build school blocks at new Edubiase in the Ashanti Region and also to construct the road leading to some communities near the Kakum National Park, which was in a deplorable state.
The Central Regional Director of the Ghana Tourist Authority, Mr. Alex Boakye, said tourism sites must benefit the people in the communities of their locations to make them appreciate their value.
He commended AAT’s initiative, saying education is a tool that puts people from different backgrounds on the same level of opportunities.
Brenu Akyenim is noted for its beautiful beaches and fine resort centres.
Mr Boakye urged the chiefs of the area to bury their differences and cooperate to bring maximum gains to the society because land and chieftaincy disputes were preventing their rich resources from being developed.
Mr Jonathan Daisie, President of Brenu Akyenim Youth for Peace and Development, appealed to the Central Regional Coordinating Council, the KEEA Metropolitan Assembly and the Member of Parliament for the area, to jointly work to resolve the chieftaincy dispute to ensure development in the community.
He said efforts by some organizations to help the community were always quashed by the disputes and expressed gratitude to AAT for making one of their dreams for the community a reality.
