Legon SRC Moves to Decongest Overcrowding On Campus

The Students Representative Council (SRC) of the University of Ghana has established a fund to put up a hostel complex on campus.

The project, which is to cost more than ¢20 billion will help alleviate the accommodation and overcrowding condition of the university.

The school has become over-populated due to the enormous influx of students from Ghana and abroad. Statistics available indicate that the number of applicants to the University of Ghana has increased tremendously in recent years, and the school is currently home to about 18,000 graduate and undergraduate students.

Despite the increasing numbers, it seems the University has not had any renovations or new facilities to keep pace. This has forced 13,000 students to use facilities that were built for only 5000.

Even though the students themselves stand to benefit enormously from the fundraising project, ironically, despite all the publicity by the SRC to herald the historic event, less than 50 students from the school showed up for the launching. This is a clear indication in one way or the other that the students are not too involved with the project.

When ADM visited some of the halls, the students were busy doing their own things and their behaviour about the project could be read as unconcerned.

This ADM reporter could not believe his eyes and ears, seeing students walk about the venue where the event was taking place and even whispering their usual discouraging parlance 'this programme is a fiasco'.

But Dr. Vladimir Antwi-Danso, Dean of Students, lauded the SRC for their innovation when he launched the fund but he criticized what he termed as apathy in the school. He said there has been a weak link between the SRC and the leaders in charge of Junior Common Rooms (JCR), with the latter sabotaging the progress and efforts of the SRC.

Mr. Antwi-Danso therefore called for stronger cooporation between the two to reverse the current trend. This, he said, would promote good moral and higher educational standards of the school.

Mr. Anyimah-Ackah Ekpor, SRC President of the school, showed his outfit's appreciation to the school's administration not only for conceding to their request but also for allotting them a piece of land to undertake the project on.

Though the president was visibly shocked and depressed by the attendance, he assured those gathered that "this would not discourage me and my people from executing this project".

He said the hostel would have 211 rooms when the first phase is completed adding that it would contain a computer laboratory, a kitchen for each room, an administrative block and a reading room.

He called on his fellow students to be supportive of the project.

In a related development an acute water shortage has hit some floors at the Sarbah Hall causing lots of inconveniences.

Some students of the hall have had to resort to one or two flowing taps which takes a long period to produce enough water.

Mr. Eugene Eluerkeh, Chairman of the Sarbah Water Improvement Project Committee, told ADM in an interview that the scarcity of water to the top floors is due to low water pressure adding that another contributing factor is the increase in the number of residences around the university.

He said to arrest the situation the hall has launched a ¢300 million fund to improve water supply in the school. Proceeds from the fund will be used to purchase two water reservoirs with a capacity of 20,000 gallons each.

He said the problem has hindered cleaning efforts resulting in an unbearable stench.

Mr. Eluerkeh admitted that there are a number of projects going on around the campus, but he asserted that "we too have to start something from somewhere to attract assistance from somewhere."