By Dennis Peprah Sunyani
Sunyani, June 27, GNA – Mr John Ansu Kumi, the Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive, has appealed to the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, United States of America to support in improving the water systems in the municipality.
He said the government recognised and appreciated the sister-city relations established between Tuscaloosa and Sunyani, and expressed the hope the relations would be strengthened for mutual benefit.
Mr Kumi made the appeal when 13 students of the university, accompanied by officials paid a courtesy call on him in Sunyani, and called on the university to also help build a standard library in the municipality. Led by Professor Seth Appiah-Opoku, the Head of the Geography Department and Prof.
Debra Nelson-Gardel, the Head of Social Work Department of the University, the students are in the Bono Region to study the socio-political and cultural climate of the region.
Mr Kumi explained that since the Assembly established the city-sister relationship with Tuscaloosa in 2011, students from both countries had undertaken education and cultural exchange programmes.
“And this time you are here we plead with you to help us to tackle challenges in our water system to provide potable drinking water for our people”, he told the students.
Prof Appiah-Opoku, a native of Chiraa in the Sunyani West Municipality said the visit would pave the way for the students to visit some tourist attraction sites in Bono Region and also build networks with higher educational institutions.
He said the University of Alabama had recruited two students in the region who had obtained their doctorate degrees, saying the university was also working hard to extend its reach to the Sunyani Technical University (STU), the Catholic University of Ghana (CUG) and the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR).
“The social condition in Alabama is quite not different from that of Ghana”, Prof Nelson-Gardel stated, and lauded the hospitality of the Ghanaian people, saying “the visit would also enable our students to explore and build networks as well”.
Mr Daniel Owusu-Daniels, the University of Alabama In-Service Learning Coordinator said the students would be in the region for more than a week, and expressed the hope the visit would enable the students to learn more of the Ghanaian culture.
GNA