A sod-cutting ceremony for the construction of an ultra-modern 5-storey hostel complex to accommodate one thousand one hundred and eighty four (1,184) students of the University of Cape Coast has been performed at the construction site on the UCC campus.
The thirty four million Ghana Cedis (GH¢ 34, 000, 000. 00) project is an initiative of the University of Cape Coast Superannuation Committee aimed at providing decent and affordable residential accommodation for students.
The facility is being constructed by Top International Engineering (Ghana) Limited.
In an address, the chairman of the University of Cape Coast Superannuation management committee, John Yaw Opoku, said the project is designed to cater for the needs of students of the university.
“The idea to build a hostel facility was conceived by the superannuation management committee in November 2006 as a means to diversify the scheme’s investment. Today, we are happy to say that eight years after the conception, the idea has finally come to a solution.
The hostel is a three wing multi-storey facility with a ground floor and five additional floors. There are four hundred (401) rooms to accommodate one thousand one hundred and eighty four (1,184) students. There would be sixty three (63) very spacious rooms with special washroom facilities for the physically challenged students. The hostel has been designed to facilitate provision of effective security and fire safety, utility services such as supply and water storage facilities, accessible ICT connectivity, a friendly ambience and an environment resourced above what exists currently on campus”, he added.
The chairman said the project is scheduled to be completed in a period of twenty four (24) months.
“The project is estimated to cost about GH₵ 34milion and being constructed by Top international Engineering Ghana Limited. We have this institution to supervise the construction as a consultant. The construction period is 24months and funding will partly be with a loan facility of 25million spreading for about 10 years from prudential bank and partly from our own resources. We project a net cash flow of GH₵ 62.06million even before repayment of the loan”.
“Superannuation” is the process of accumulating a fund for retirement. It involves a retirement benefit fund or pension where regular contributions are deducted from a person’s salary while he/she is still in employment.
The Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Professor John Nelson Buah on his part appealed to the contractor to ensure that the project is completed within schedule to help ease the burden of getting accommodation by students.
Prof. Buah said, “This is going to be one project on campus that will have the interest and attention of almost everybody because we look at the project and we start to think about our future. This is our future that is being invested and so we will have a lot of interest”.
“The funding of this project, where the monies are going to come from as I have already indicated, revolves around people’s homes and peoples future. Therefore, as much as possible, I will plead that this project does not suffer the delays that other projects on campus have suffered. If we are starting with GH₵ 34 million as the project cost, please don’t let us end up making it GH₵ 75 million. If we will be able to do so, then it means that we are going to go strictly by the timelines. If there are going to be delays, let those delays be unavoidable ones”, he cautioned.
Prof. Buah therefore commended the superannuation committee for putting up this facility that will benefit members of the university community.
The hostel will have facilities like a reading room on each floor, a restaurant, a grocery store, a barbering shop and an internet café.
source: atlfmonline
