Don’t litigate with UMaT over land for expansion; Minister pleads with chiefs
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Nii Osah Mills, has appealed to traditional authorities in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality in the Western Region to reconsider their decision to litigate with the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) at Tarkwa over land meant for the university’s expansion programmme.
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‘‘It has come to my notice that the university has been dragged into a dispute with the Tarkwa traditional authorities over land earmarked for the expansion of the university’s physical infrastructure.
I, therefore, call on Nananom to take another look at their action and release the land to the university authorities for the expansion of their academic facilities,’’ Nii Osah Mills pleaded.
That, he said, would enable the university to admit more students and pave the way for the institution to achieve its aim of serving the community in particular and the country at large.
7th Congregation
The minister, who made the appeal when he addressed the 7th Congregation of UMaT last Saturday, however, commended the paramount chief of the Wassa Fiase Traditional Area for donating a large tract of land for the development of the university’s new campus, adding ‘‘I would like to sincerely thank Nana for his generosity.’’
This year, a total of 429 students graduated as against 409 last year, out of which five were awarded Doctor of Philosophy degrees, 43 received Masters of Philosophy degrees, 357 got Bachelor of Science degrees in their respective engineering programmes of study.
Sixty-one of them were in the first class division, while 23 were presented with diploma certificates, with one candidate taking a certificate in English Language, with Mr Ampem-Darko Hanson from the Mechanical Engineering Department emerging the overall best graduating student.
Prizes, including cash, were also awarded to other deserving graduating students and staff of the university.
UMaT successes
Nii Osah Mills said he was extremely happy with the successes achieved by the university so far and commented briefly on three initiatives namely, direct smelting technology of gold extraction, women in artisanal and small-scale mining in Africa project and local production of activated carbons.
The minister noted that under a European Union sponsored project, the UMaT, in collaboration with the British Geological Society, developed the Direct Smelting Technology of gold recovery for use by artisanal and small-scale miners in Ghana.
That technology, he observed, was able to solve the problem of mercury pollution through amalgamation in the gold recovery process.
Nii Osah Mills pointed out that a professors at UMaT had been appointed to work for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in the area of Women in Artisanal and Small-scale Mining in Africa
He added that UMaT had locally designed and successfully tried a reactor for pyrolysis-gasification of biomass to produce activated carbons.
Pledge redemption/new programme
Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the Minister of Petroleum, gave an assurance that the government was indeed determined to redeem the pledge of the President about the government’s decision to transform the Department of Petroleum Engineering to a School of Petroleum Studies.
He said as a show of goodwill, his ministry would be offering some short-term training scholarships to the petroleum engineering staff to increase their experience.
Mr Buah noted that the university had commenced a new degree programme, Environmental and Safety Engineering, saying the programme would expose the dangers and environmental problems which arose out of mining activities, whether conventional, small-scale or illegal mining concerns and come out with solutions to address such problems.
The petroleum minister stressed that the government had no alternative but to support the university since its mandate was important to the sustenance of the mining and petroleum industries of the country.
Cash for equipment
The Vice Chancellor of UMaT, Professor Jerry S. Y. Kuma, in his report, disclosed that the government had provided GH¢4.2 million through the GETFund to help the university which also secured an additional commercial loan of GH¢4.5 million to complete the 540-bed students’ hostel.
He added that the government had provided the university with £400, 000 and €1.1 million to acquire Mechanical Engineering laboratory equipment and Renewable Energy Engineering laboratory equipment respectively.
With that acquisition, he said the university was poised to establish a new BSc programme next academic year in Renewable Energy Engineering.
Late Mills/President Mahama
The vice chancellor recalled that in 2009, late President J.E.A. Mills pledged GH¢100 million to UMaT to be drawn from Minerals Development Fund over a period of five years to enable the university to develop its infrastructure in order to befit its status.
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However, Prof. Kuma indicated that six years on, ‘‘We have been able to source GH¢22 million, saying that in 2013, President John Mahama also pledged government’s resolve to facilitate the process to enable UMaT to source the funds to aid in the transformation of the institution in its quest to become a centre of excellence.