Work begins on $400,000 hostel for RMU

WORK has begun on the construction of a four storey hostel for the Regional Maritime University (RMU) at the cost of $400,000.
The project which is being financed by the Gambia will ease problem of accommodation facing the university.
Mr Lamin Bojang who is in the country to attend the 4th Board of Governors meeting of RMU laid a slab at the opening ceremony in Nungua, Accra yesterday.
Performing the ceremony, Mr Bojang said his country was committed to contributing its quota of resourcing the university to acceptabe standards in the world.
The RMU is a sub regional institution being run jointly by four West African countries to provide universal education to civilians and military personnel in the marine industry and other related studies.
The countries are Ghana, Liberia, Cameroon, Sierra Leone and the Gambia.
According to Mr Bojang the absence of adequate financial resource had been a perennial problem to the university like other tertiary institutions in the sub region.
Mr Bojang, therefore, called on the management of the university to put in place measures that would help generate capital internally to support the contribution of member states.
He noted also that the current teaching staff of the university must be upgraded in order to meet the accreditation requirements of the remaining member states who were yet to give accreditation to the school.
The Minister of Transport, whose speech was read on his behalf by his deputy Mrs Dzifa Ativor, said the regular review of programmes of the university and the adoption of appropriate strategies and plans had resulted in the early transformation of the institution into a regional University.
Mr Hammah stressed that the success story of the university should accord political leaders within the sub region the opportunity to forge closer partnership to develop the economy of countries within the sub region.
The minister regretted that the contribution of Ghana to the university has not been forth coming, a situation he said was not good for the development of RMU.
Mr Hammah noted that by the end of April this year, the university had received only 14 per cent of member states’ financial contribution totalling $169,808.
“This picture is rather unfortunate, we need to do something drastic about this gloomy situation since every institution thrives on a vibrant financial resource,” he added.
To this end, the minister pledged his personal commitment to making Ghana’s contribution to the school a regular one to meet the demands of the university.
For his part, the Chairman of RMU Mr Binyah Kesselly said that as the institution strives to maintain an international reputation, the consistence and continued financial support would determine the outcome of the efforts of the member states of the university.
Mr Kesselly said in order to sustain the development efforts of RMU, the goal of the institution in the year’s ahead must be self sustaining to attain and maintain the development and leadership in the world of maritime academia.
The chairman stressed that the RMU must strategically prioritise the growth and development of the maritime resources to harness the power of training the requisite human and infrastructural capacities of member states.
Mr Kesselly also presented accreditation to the RMU from the Liberian institute of higher education.

CAPTION

The Rector of RMU Capt Aaron Turkson laying the slab at the construction site at the University. With him are some members of the board of the University.