A 360-bed Girl’s Dormitory facility at the Huni Valley Senior High School has been handed over by Gold Fields Ghana Foundation at Prestea Huni Valley Municipality in the Western Region.
The project, constructed by a local contractor in Tarkwa – Boison Construction Limited – within a period of three years, includes four apartments for teachers at a total cost of US$980,000.
The project is to help tackle the accommodation deficit for girls in the school, and also reduce the number of female students residing in off-campus hostels.
Currently, sixty-five percent of the student population at the Huni Valley SHS are female. 371 of them reside in off-campus hostels and homes while the remaining 656 are boarders on campus.
Mr. Joshua Mortoti, Executive Vice President and Head-Gold Fields West Africa, said the company is committed to creating value that is sustainable and lasts beyond mining activities to benefit our stakeholders.
He said since 2004, through the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation, over US$93million has been invested in several socio-economic initiatives and high impact programmes.
“The important aspects of these programmes and initiatives are that they are relevant, impactful, sustainable, and can change as well as enhance lives,” he said.
He said Gold Fields has contributed significantly to economic growth of the country and supported to improve infrastructural development, with the company’s export revenues increasing Ghana’s export earnings.
“The assessment also noted that Gold Fields has contributed to continuous service delivery of local government, improving health and education service delivery in the two municipalities of Tarkwa Nsuaem and Huni Valley Prestea,” Mr. Mortoti said.
Also, he said, apart from the scholarship programme to support the brilliant but needed students in their operational areas to further their studies at the tertiary level, 37 public schools in our communities are undergoing a four-year reading and comprehension programme in partnership with a Canadian NGO.
This, he explained, is targetted at equipping students at the lower and upper primary levels to improve reading and comprehension skills; as well as other programmes which have enabled the indigenes to be self-employed, since the company cannot absorb all the youth in various communities with opportunities
Prof. Elsie Effah Kaufmann, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Ghana, was inspired by the support of Gold Fields Ghana Foundation.
“If we want to train our children to be critical thinkers, then it is education that will make them useful as citizens,” she said.
She noted that consideration should be given to girls in terms of education, and also provide an enabling environment for them to feel secure and safe – “and that’s what we are seeing today”.
“Women bring a distinctive view onboard to solve problems since they contribute to economic development, and we must always encourage and support them to give of their best,” she said.
She added: “You have been provided with a secure and safe environment to have your peace of mind to study and excel. As students, invest in yourselves; think and dream big for a brighter future”.
Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah applauded Gold Fields for supporting Huni Valley SHS. “Indeed, Gold Fields Ghana and Gold Fields Ghana Foundation have been doing well in their communities at both Tarkwa and Damang Mines by bringing development to the people.”
Robert Wisdom Cudjoe, Member of Parliament for Prestea Huni Valley, also lauded Gold Fields Ghana Foundation for the number of projects spread within the Tarkwa and Prestea Huni Valley Municipalities.
