SINCE 2011 when the Bolgatanga Rehabilitation Training Centre was closed down due to lack of funds, government has still not made funds available for the reopening of the centre.
In 2011, the Upper East Regional office of the Department of Social Welfare was compelled to close down the training centre because government for a long time had not released feeding grants/funds. The closure saw about fifty trainees sent home.
Barely a year after The Chronicle’s investigations and subsequent publication of the closure of the centre, absolutely nothing has been done to recall the trainees some of whom our sources say are now begging for alms.
Even before government stopped releasing feeding grants to the centre which led to its closure, most of its structures were in deplorable state. Located at Doporetidongo opposite Awogeya Primary School in the Bolgatanga Municipality, ceilings and widows of the Boys’ and Girls’ Dormitories, windows, doors and facial boards and roofs of other buildings including staff bungalows are fast deteriorating.
It is rainy season and whenever it rains, the rain water is collected in the affected rooms soaking beds and wheel-chairs the trainees used when the centre was functioning. The supposed dining hall is not also in good shape as its ceilings and windows are getting rotten.
A female instructor who was at the centre on Wednesday during this reporter’s visit confirmed nothing has since been done after our first publication, and lamented that they could no longer trace their students two years after the closure of the centre. Though the centre is closed down and the instructors have no work doing, they still receive their salaries. Obliviously, this is not their fault.
Upon entering the compound, one will appreciate the well planned and built structures that one would have expected to be put to good use but unfortunately, they are left to rot while Persons With Disabilities who were the beneficiaries have also been sent home. This means that their dreams have been cast into the dark and their families overburdened.
Our investigations revealed that much attention was not given to the centre in terms of funds allocation to cater for its running and welfare of the trainees who hailed from across the region and other parts of the country. It was revealed that even at the time the learners were staying in the facility, their toilet facilities were malfunctioned thus, they were compelled to go out to respond to nature’s calls.
Meanwhile, the land allocated to the centre is vast enough to even accommodate more structures in case of expansion.
Other facilities on the compound included a classroom block, guest house, Maiden’s Quarters, and dining hall.
Some of the courses that were available included tailoring, dressmaking, leather work, textile weaving, and rope work.
Questions that need concrete answers are; why can’t the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) provide funds for the renovation of the structures as it does for second cycle institutions? Why does government provide feeding grants for Senior High/Technical Institutions but not doing same for a handful of persons who need the support most? Where are the numerous NGOs parading themselves as seeking the welfare of persons with disabilities not coming to the aid of this centre? Has Social Welfare Department done enough to help the situation but has not been given the needed support?
The Regional Director of the Department of Social Welfare, Mr. Ignatius Dankwa-Smith was out of the region at the time of our visit to his office on Wednesday. In a telephone interview, he lamented over the situation and said he was asked to submit a proposal for the revamping of the centre which he had since done but no response yet.
This story of submitting proposal for funds was the same last year and if the plight of Persons With Disabilities, who were mainly the beneficiaries of the rehabilitation centre is anything to go by, then someone – maybe, the government, must act now. Time for lip-services is over and it is time to act.
CREDIT: William N-lanjerborr Jalulah/chronicle.com
