INAUGURATION OF MELCOM SHOPPING MALL AT SUNYANI

The inauguration of the 23^rd shopping mall of Melcom Ghana Limited has taken place at Sunyani. The three (3) storey building shopping mall is located in the heart of the Sunyani Township behind the coronation park. The mall has offices, ware houses and places of convenience in it.

The inauguration drew a large crowd to the premises of the mall They included the Omanhene of Sunyani, Nana Bosoma Asor Nkrawiri III who was the chairman for the occasion and his elders, heads of departments of the municipal assembly, workers and the public. Also in attendance was the Deputy Minister of Trade and industry, who had come to the region to deputize for the minister of Trade and industry Hon. Hannah Tetteh in the open ceremony of the Trade Fair of the Brong-Ahafo at 50 celebrations, the regional minister Hon. Kwadwo Nyamekye Marfo and the MCE Hon. Kwasi Oppong Ababio.

In his acceptance speech as chairman for the occasion, the Omanhene Nana Bosoma Asor Nkrawiri III expressed delight to melcom for the project. He promised that he and his elders will always release land to investors who will like to invest in the municipality. He appealed to the company to employ people in the area so that the rate of unemployment especially among the youth which make them to indulge in social vices like armed robbery will come down.

The managing Director of Melcom Limited Mr. Mahesh Melwani thanked Nananom for releasing land to them when they asked for it for the project. He said melcom is building shopping malls in various parts of the country because they want to bring buying to the door steps of the people. He said melcom currently employs 1,500 people in the country and intends to increase the number as the years go by.

The regional minister on his part thanked melcom limited for expanding its operations in the region. He appealed to them to employ people from the region so that the idea of the youth in the region to migrate through the Sahara desert to Europe to look for greener pastures which eventually results in their deaths on the desert will come down if not completely eradicated.

The Deputy Minister of Trade and industry Hon. John Guetuah advised melcom to as part of its social responsibility build schools in the districts they operate in and name after the company. He promised that his government will continue to give the private sector the needed support for socio-economic growth in the country.

The three (3) storey building had from the first floor to the third one goods of all kinds on display. People trooped to the building to see things for themselves. My interview with them revealed that they were very happy that melcom has opened such a big shopping mall in the municipality and they will not have to travel to Accra or Kumasi to buy there any longer.

MCE FOR SUNYANI MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLY DONATES HUNDRED (100) BAGS OF CEMENT TO SUNYANI MUNICIPAL HOSPITAL.

The Municipal Chief Executive for Sunyani Municipal Assembly Hon. Kwasi Oppong Ababio has this morning donated one hundred (100) bags of cement on behalf of the Assembly to the Sunyani Municipal Hospital. The donation according to the MCE is in response to a clarion call on him by authorities of the Hospital to come to their aid in a rehabilitation work currently going on in the hospital. The Sunyani Municipal Hospital is the second hospital in the municipality to have benefited from such a donation by the MCE. The first one was the Sunyani Regional Hospital which received 250 bags of cement from him to help an ongoing construction of office for the hospital mortuary.

According to the MCE, the Assembly would have wished to do more than what they have presented but as he puts it “our common fund is constrained because we have so many other debts that we had to settle”. He therefore appealed to them to accept the token they have been able t o get. He appealed to the health workers to continue to g

ive off their best not withstanding the many challenges that they face so that lives of people are protected

Responding, the medical superintendent of the hospital Dr. Fulgentius Dery thanked the MCE and the assembly as a whole saying “Hon. MCE this donation of hundred bags of cement is not a token as you want us to believe for it will go a long way to help us in the rehabilitation work that we are undertaking here”.

He continued “since 1927 that this hospital was built it has not seen any rehabilitation so you can imagine the state of the hospital now. He said the hospital now face the problem of poor drainage system, no proper fencing and the buildings have developed cracks in them because of long years of no rehabilitation.

He added that “it is in light of this that we decided to use our internally generated funds (IGF) to start the work. He said the donation of the MCE therefore is timely and will go a long way to help them. He appealed to the MCE to help the hospital with a stand by generator so that they

will be able to work when there is power cut from the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). The MCE responded, by saying he will see what he can do about the request.

The short ceremony attracted many Health workers, Heads of Departments and workers of the assembly as well as the Media to the forecourt of the hospital

The ceremony was nearly marred by rains which have been falling since morning but the MCE and his entourage ignored it and did the donation in the store room of the hospital.