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Tarkwa, July 29, GNA - Professor Daniel Mireku-Gyimah, Vice Chancellor of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) has noted that Ghana's major challenge is how to exploit its several unexplored natural mineral deposits.
He said minerals such as iron, asbestos, limestone, marble, barite, mica and talc, silica, garnet, feldspar, sandstone, beryl, lithium, monazite, copper and kaolin, lie unexplored in several parts of Ghana. Prof. Mireku-Gyimah said these in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Tarkwa on Wednesday.
He said the country's major challenge is how to exploit these mineral resources responsibly using appropriate tools and procedures to safeguard their quality and also protect the environment at the same time. "We need to prevent environmental damage, when exploiting the resources for national development and we must do it in an environmentally friendly manner" Prof. Mireku-Gyimah stressed. He said the socio-economic benefits of mining must be maximized and lesser known natural resources must be harnessed for the growth and development of the society.
Prof. Mireku-Gyimah said the nation could tap these resources effectively if it resourced UMaT, the only Mines, Science and Technology University in Africa, to carry out its mandate of producing world-class graduates, who will assist the nation to exploit and make these other untapped resources readily available and to contribute significantly to the development of the nation. He said the university has instituted a biennial UMaT International Mining and Mineral Conference which would begin from August 4 to 7 this year.
Prof. Mireku-Gyimah said 100 professionals and people from academic institutions worldwide have been invited to share their experiences and views in innovations in mining and mineral technology to help address the challenges of the country. He said presently, UMaT has a student population of 1,453 and 73 academic staffs making the ratio of academic staff to students is 20 to one. 264 within both the medium and long term, adding that, when this figure improves the student population will also increase to 5,000.
He said though the University was established in 1952 as the Tarkwa Technical Institute, its transformation into a full university and the increasing demand for admission requires that a new campus that can host over 5,000 students, lecturers, professors among others to be built. He said though the Wassa Fiase Traditional Council had donated a total of 26 square kilometre of land for the development of a new campus, the lack of financial resources was a major challenge now.
Source
http://www.ghanaweb.com
Thursday, 29 July 2010 |
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The University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa has been crowned champions of the NATIONAL JAWJAW DEBATE COMPETITION.
The competition which commenced in 2009 with thirty two (32) tertiary institutions in the country, including the University Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, University of Cape Coast, University of Education-Wiinneba, University for Development Studies and the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), was under the auspices of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS).
The topic for the debate was “Funding of higher education is the responsibility of the government.” The UMaT team which debated for the motion was led by Eyram Tettevi (principal speaker), Amadu Rasheed (1st supporting speaker) and Atia Ishmael Ayisebila (2nd Supporting Speaker).
The UMaT team beat their counterparts from the University of Education Winneba by pulling 237.6 points out of 300 whilst UEW team pulled 230.1. The topic for the contest was “The media has failed in its role as the fourth estate of the realm”.
This victory qualified them to the one-sixteenth stage of the competition where the team contested with KNUST on the Great Debate of Africa “That the Union Government NOW is the panacea to African Unity”.
Defending the topic at the Conference room of the Commonwealth Hall University of Ghana, UMaT succeeded in beating KNUST with a score of 235 points as against the 232 points obtained by their opponents.
The Northern Giants (UDS) after their triumph over the University of Ghana were automatically pegged against the Miners for the one-eighth stage of the competition to debate the motion ‘Drivers are the main cause of Road Accidents in the country’. Though prepared to speak against the motion scheduled at the Great Hall of the University of Cape Coast, the team from the University for Development Studies failed to turn up and UMaT was automatically declared winners.
The miners thus graduated to the semi-final stage when they locked horns with the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ). The contest took place at the University of Ghana Accra City Campus on 15th April, 2010 on the motion ‘The bond of 1844 set the tone for Ghana’s independence and not the activities of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the Big Six’. Guided by the unflinching desire to uplift the image of their young university, the superb display of gallantry by team UMaT was enough to show the journalists the exit at such a crucial stage of the competition. They pulled 101.5/120 points as against 98/120 for GIJ. They therefore won the slot for the grand finale.
The grand finale was indeed a fierce contest between UMaT and Christian Services University College, Kumasi. It was held at the main Auditorium of the Common Wealth Hall (UG). The day for the contest coincide with the National Students’ Day celebrations on May this year.
Amidst cheers from the crowd, the debaters thrilled the packed auditorium with wonderful exchanges on the motion ‘That Funding of higher education is the responsibility of government’. The forty minutes of heated Jaw-Jaw Session left the audience confused as to which of the two sides was going win the contest.
However, from the cumulative results, UMaT obtained 84 per cent as against 81 per cent for Christian Services University College of Kumasi.
UMaT was crowned the National Champions of the Premier National Jaw-Jaw Debate Competition and the awards are to be presented on July 24th, this year at the NUGS Dinner and Awards Night to climax the NUGS year.
The UMaT team displaying one of the shields they won in the preliminary stages of the competition. (from L-R: Amadu Rasheed, Tettevi Eyram & Atia Ishmael)
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Dr. Temeng Becomes Associate Professor
 Dr. V. A. Temeng, a Senior Lecturer and Head of Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in mining engineering with retrospective effect from 1st October, 2009.
Prof. Temeng, a former Acting Dean and Co-ordinator of School of Postgraduate Studies (SPS) comes to his new post with over 19 years teaching and research experience in the University.
Prof. Temeng, a product of Oda and Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary Schools, graduated from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 1985 and 1986 with a Bachelor of Science and Postgraduate Diploma degrees in Mining Engineering respectively. He later undertook MSc and PhD degrees at University of Zambia and Michigan Technological University respectively.
He joined UMaT, then part of KNUST in 1990 as a Teaching Assistant and has over the years served UMaT in other capacities as Head of Department, Chairman of Procurement Advisory Board (PAB) among others.
He has also accumulated wealth of experience from the mining industry as a consultant and currently serves as chairman of UMaT Admissions Committee. |
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GHANA MANGANESE COMPANY LIMITED DONATES US$200,000.00 TO UMaT
Ghana Manganese Company Limited has donated US$200,000.00 to the University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa. The donation was made towards the construction of a students’ hostel at the University. The donation took place in the University and was witnessed by officers from the University of Mines and Technology and Ghana Manganese Company Limited.
Mr Jurgen Eijgendaal, the Managing Director of Ghana Manganese Company (GMC) Limited presented a dummy cheque of the said amount on behalf of the Company. He said GMC had held discussions with the University on ways to maintain a strong co-operation between the two institutions and that the donation was one of the ways to achieve such strong bonds.
Mr Eijgendaal further assured the University that the donation was the first of several others in the years ahead. He confirmed the commitment of G.M.C to make annual contributions towards the construction of the students’ hostel.
Professor Daniel Mireku-Gyimah, the Vice Chancellor of the University, received the donation on behalf of the University and expressed the appreciation of Management of the University for the kind gesture by G.M.C. He said the donation was very timely as it had come at a time when the University was facing the challenge of providing accommodation to its students.
Prof. Mireku-Gyimah said the University was committed to providing excellent training to its students and that the provision of accommodation was one of the means that would aid the efforts of the University in providing quality training to the students. He assured G.M.C that the funds would be put to the intended use.
The construction of the students’ hostel started in 2005, when G.M.C pledged a support to the University to construct a 200-capacity hostel. However, the increasing intake of students has compelled G.M.C to support the construction of a 400-capacity students’ hostel instead. It was as a result of this pledge that the donation of US$200,000.00 was made to the University.
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