TEMASCO buffer land under siege

The Tema Secondary School (TEMASCHO), located in Tema Community 5, was one of the first senior secondary schools built in the 1960's by Dr Kwame Nkrumah under the Accelerated Development Plan aimed at enhancing the rapid development and provide quality education at all levels of the educational programme.

The school has produced prominent Ghanaians such as Veteran journalist  Kwesi Pratt Jnr, Kenneth Thompson, CEO of Dalex Finance, Reverend Steve Wengam (Assemblies of God), Umaru Sanda (Broadcast Journalist with Citi FM), Senyo Hosi (CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors), Apostle Eric Kwabena Nyamekye (Chairman of the Church of Pentecost) and many more.

The school, located at the heart of a then serene harbour city, originally peaceful, unclouded with calm tranquillity and surrounded with lofty trees which provided health and aesthetic value to the learning environment, is currently disturbed by a chain of containers, table top business and other hooligans who have gradually broken into the fence wall of the school.

It has emerged that among the squatters who have invaded the school is an indian hemp dealer, who is likely to offer his services to vulnerable students.

The school authorities have made every attempt to engage the municipal chief executive, the assembly member, as well as the Member of Parliament to intervene in this looming danger but all attempts have proved futile.

Some of these traders located on the school buffer and road reservation have intimated they have permits to operate on the school’s buffer land, a situation the school authorities cannot comprehend.

More shocking is a pub, which has electricity and water.

The situation begs the question of what site plan was submitted for acess to a meter.

The school authorities are calling on the assembly to take swift action to clear the area of all illegal structures situated on the school buffer land.

Abraham Lartey, 
Tema Community activist,
E-mail: Larteyabraham@hotmail.com