SQUATTERS INVADE SCHOOL LANDS (PAGE 11)

Story: Rose Hayford Darko, Tema

Squatters and vendors have invaded portions of land belonging to some first and second cycle schools in the Tema Municipality.
These illegal occupants have erected wooden structures for business and residential purposes, and in addition, they engage in all sorts of activities which promote prostitution and drug-related vices and create a serious mess on these compounds, thereby seriously hampering academic work.
Some of the squatters have threatened to resist any attempt by the school authorities to eject them .
A survey conducted by the Daily Graphic revealed that the squatters were also using the facilities and utilities of the schools.
At the No 2 Junior High School at Tema Community 8, a structure serving as a drinking bar has been mounted on the compound just alongside the main school building.
It has a registration No TMA C/ 204, which is a clear manifestation that it had been officially registered by the Tema Municipal Assembly to operate as a drinking bar.
A source at the school said the owner had defied all attempts by the school authorities to eject him from the premises of the school, ignoring the fact that some of the students could be tempted to sneak into the bar without being noticed by the teachers.
The source also mentioned the activities of a metal workshop which creates a lot of noise during school hours.
Workers of the metal workshop had on the compound a structure which they use as a residential facility and also a place where they kept their belongings.
The source said they had also ignored all appeals to them to quit the compound to make learning peaceful for the students.
The source said the school compound was used by the squatters after close of school, posing a threat to school property, including books and important documents.
The Tema Redemption Valley Basic School, near the Tema cemetery, have some structures being used by charismatic churches springing up there and if this is not checked, the activities of these churches would become a nuisance to the teachers and children.
At the Ashaiman Senior High Day School, the headmaster, Mr Emmanuel Ofoe Fiemawhle, led the Daily Graphic team to look at a line of rooms being occupied by nine households, who share the school compound with the students and teachers.
The unfortunate aspect is that even though the school is fenced, the squatters still hang around the premises, while lessons go on, which greatly affects teaching and learning.
Mr Fiemawhle said the occupants of the structures used the school’s main gate and tapped electricity and water from the school’s supplies, thus making the school’s meters to read far in excess of what the school actually used.
He said the squatters included some females who indulged in activities which brought all manner of men to the compound even at odd times and with cars zooming in and out.
Mr Fiemawhle said the squatters threatened the security personnel at the gate when they refused to open the gate for them at late hours, making the situation very serious.
He said some of the squatters scaled the walls when they found the gate locked and therefore appealed to the Ghana Education Service to take the issue up for solution.
The only deaf school in the Greater Accra Region, the State School for the Deaf, at Adjei - Kojo, was also found to be in a dilemma because there was stiff competition from the land owners, who have started selling off portions to other people.
A senior tutor at the school, Mr Justice Akpor, said the situation had retarded the progress of the school because some projects initiated by some NGOs to benefit the students were demolished by the intruders.
Mr Akpor said the school authorities rather were reported to the police and picked up for questioning but were released when the police realised that they had not committed any crime.
He lamented that they were picked up for protecting state property and appealed to the government to set up a machinery to ensure that property belonging to the state was protected by the state.
Some residents blamed the planning authorities for registering businesses without ensuring where they were located.
Meanwhile, the schools have called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) to come to their aid to ensure effective teaching and learning.