Officials of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, (GNPC) and the GNPC Foundation, have commissioned and handed over some infrastructure projects to selected communities in the Western Region.

As part of its corporate social responsibility, the GNPC through its foundation led by Dr Dominic Eduah, has consistently invested in several initiatives across the country.

The Foundation has constructed educational and social infrastructure projects to improve education and sanitation in some hard-to-reach communities of the Western Region.

The Foundation is convinced that good educational infrastructure improves student absorption and outcomes, reduces dropout rate, and creates a conduicive environment for learners to excel.

The completed projects, which replaced the obsolete and dilapidated structures, include a 3-unit classroom block each for Yepimso and Ohiapenika communities, and a 12-seater sanitary facility at Mumuni Camp, all in the Amenfi West District, as well as a 6-unit classroom block for Atobiase D/A Basic School in the Wassa East District.

The GNPC Foundation, which is the sustainability arm of the national oil company said its intervention was to bring relief to communities.

In a short ceremony to climax the handing over projects in the region at Atobiase, the Executive Director of the GNPC Foundation, Dr Dominic Kwesi Eduah, who represented the CEO of GNPC, Opoku Ahweneeh-Danquah, highlighted some of the projects done by GNPC in the Western Region.

"The Western Region where we currently do our extractive business is our priority when it comes to our core objects, and we’ve done projects in all the 13 districts in the region ranging from astro turfs to dormitories, classroom blocks, sanitary facilities, laboratories, boreholes, artisans training, scholarships, among others."

Dr Eduah advised the beneficiary communities to maintain the facilities and preserve them for future generations.

The Chairman for the occasion, Nana Bukuro II, Nifahene of Wassa Atobiase, who was supported by the Queen Mother of Atobiase, Nana Yaa Frimpomaa II, thanked GNPC for the facility and intimated that pupils from this school who studied in a dilapidated structure were the best in the district in the previous Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), and now that they have this new edifice, they will be the best in the region in the years ahead.

On his part, the School Improvement Support Officer (SISO) Mr Michael Akuleye, Who represented the District Director of Education for Wassa East was of full of praise for GNPC for providing Atobiase D/A Basic School with a fully furnished state-of-the-art classroom as it will enhance teaching and learning.

In attendance were the GNPC's Head of Business, Opoku Ahweneeh-Danquah, the Headteacher of the school, Mr Edward Appiah, Assembly Member for Wassa Atobiase electoral area, Hon. John Kankah Amoah who represented the District Chief Executive for Wassa East, the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Chairman, Mr Emmanuel Acquah, and Head Pastor for the Church of Pentecost for Wassa Atobiase, Pastor Godwill Kuseini.