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Minister of Communication, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has expressed worry about the dilapidated nature of the Offinso-Namong ICT Centre in the Offinso municipality of the Ashanti Region, which has been abandoned and converted into a private residence.

The centre was built and inaugurated for the community in 2006 by the government of Ghana to improve teaching and learning of ICT.

The ICT centre, according to the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Offinso, Solomon Kesse, was turned into an official residence for the IT personnel, who was managing it, one Lawrence Papoe.

Mr Kesse said the IT personnel, who is no longer a staff of the Assembly, was forced to vacate the centre six days ago after he (MCE) got to know that the facility belongs to the community.

The minister, who inspected the facility on Tuesday, 28 August 2018, as part of her three-day tour of communication infrastructure in the Ashanti Region, expressed anger over the deplorable nature of the centre.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful expressed her disgust about how government properties are misused and abandoned.

She cautioned the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to ensure judicious use and maintenance of government resources and properties.

The minister said it is unfortunate that government spends money on such facilities only for them to go waste, adding that the ICT centre will be renovated and re-equipped to improve teaching and learning in the community.

The Ablekuma West MP also inspected the Kodie ICT Laboratory Centre in the Afigya Kwabre South District, which had been renovated and has been re-equipped with computers by the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC).

Additionally, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful visited the Nsuta ICT Centre in the Sekyere Central District and donated exercise books to St. Peter’s Junior High School, and assured the communities of government’s commitment to ensure that ICT learning and teaching is intensified in schools across the country.