By Kamal Ahmed, GNA
Yaayaso (E/R), June 6, GNA – The Newmont Foundation, under the auspices of Newmont Mining Company, has broken ground on the construction of a new two-story building for the Akyem Vocational and Technical Institute at Yaayaso in the Birim North District.
The Akyem Vocational and Technical Institute (AVTI) has been operating with over 320 students who attend school for free, courtesy of the Newmont Foundation’s sponsorship.
At the ground-breaking ceremony, Mr. Charles Bissue, General Manager of Newmont Akyem Mine, stated that the event marked the beginning of several pivotal projects that would have a significant impact on local communities.
Mr. Bissue announced that Newmont had committed over 10 million Ghana cedis towards the construction of the Akyem Vocational and Technical Institute (AVTI), teachers’ bungalows, and other facilities.
“These are a testament to our unwavering support and commitment of creating value and enhancing life through sustainable and responsible mining practice,” he noted.
He described the project as a sustainable investment that would fund 17 transformative projects aimed at elevating the quality and delivery of education within their host communities.
“I’m eagerly anticipating collaborating with all stakeholders on these immense projects and look forward to celebrating the success completion during the commissioning,” he said.
Mr. Paul Apenu, Newmont Akyem Development Foundation Executive Secretary, said the project comprised the construction of a two-story and 24-unit classroom block, and other facilities for AVTI.
According to him, the classroom block will help the community expand their programmes of study to include fashion and catering to encourage more women to participate and enrol in the AVTI.
“We are encouraged to celebrate this milestone due to the fact that it is a single moment where we have assembled quite a number of projects to undertake a go,” he added.
He also said the project was crucial to ensure there were enough classrooms to accommodate more students in the school, particularly young women.
“Even though labour studies indicate that more females are interested in catering and fashion programmes, we continue to encourage them so that they can also take the male-dominated programmes,” he said.
He urged contractors to demonstrate professionalism in the construction of the project because “no cut and paste edit project will be countenance.”
Chief of Adausena, Nana Dr. Boni Abankro V, said he was happy about the state-of-the-art project, adding that the fabric of every community was education.
He urged Newmont to leave legacies in their host communities by investing in education, stressing, “Those who built houses in Tarkwa, Obuasi, couldn’t complete their building when the mining went down.
“But those who invested in their children’s education, the kids came back to complete their projects for them, so if you’ve got anything for us, put in this project.”
GNA