The first badge of admissions for the University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD), Somanya campus is expected to be made in September.
The Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, Professesor Kwesi Yankah has announced this on Friday when he paid a one-day working visit to the campus of the UESD to assess the progress of work following the completion of the first phase of the construction of the university project.
It is being executed by Messrs Contracta Costruzioni Italia, an Italian construction company to develop the project on a design and build basis which started in 2018 for an amount of €45,575,000.
Major schedules of accommodation which have been completed included a 13- lecture hall block with a total seating capacity of 1,545 with a 40-seater video conference room and 24 seating capacity computer research room for the Natural and Environment Sciences.
Other facilities completed also included a 252-seater multi-purpose hall block with other sub facilities, laboratory building, faculty offices to serve as administration block for the School of Agriculture and Agro Entrepreneurship Development, student’s hostels and residence block for the Vice Chancellor, Pro-Vice Chancellor and key officers residence.
The facilities had been constructed to suit persons living with disability.
However, projects awarded to a local contractor by the GETfund was ongoing and yet to be completed.
He revealed that government was in the process of putting together an interim governing council that would start the process of appointing the senior management members such as the Vice chancellor, Pro-vice chancellor, and Registrar among other related functionaries of the university.
“We expect the academic aspect of this project to begin hopefully by September this year and we have submitted names for the governing council,” he said adding that the processing has started.
He assured that “soon the government would announce the members of the governing council who would take over the facility after the official handing over of this facility from the Messrs Contracta Construzioni Italia”.
He also revealed that his ministry has also started putting together an interim management consisting of technicians and engineers who would temporarily take over the handling of the facility and maintain systems that has been put in place by the contractors until the substantive management would take over from them at the appropriate time.
Prof. Yankah also assured management of good security and hoped that the university would begin at the scheduled time.
He revealed that a second phase of the construction of the university would also begin at a later scheduled date that would be announced.
However, he was hopeful that the aspect of the project awarded to the local contractor under the GETfund would be completed before the school begins.
For his part, the consultant for the project and Deputy Project Manager of the Messrs Avangarde Design Services, Mr Sampson Awuah was satisfied with the work done stating that there had been several technical and site meetings to ensure the right things have been done.