GIMPA plans to implement GHc500 premium parking policy; students fight back
Management of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) has commenced a parking policy which has alienated the student body
Management of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) has commenced a parking policy which has alienated the student body
This policy, according to a communique issued by the school, will see students pay a fee of GHS500 every semester in order to be able to park at certain locations on campus.
The school said the parking space now earmarked as premium will include all parking spaces around the GIMPA Law faculty, business school and other faculties.
The only free space will be the parking space heading towards the main gate of the school.
“After staff allocations are completed, excess parking spaces will be allocated to interested individual students (on first come-first serve basis) subject to expression of interest, provision of documentation proof of vehicle ownership and evidence of payment of the required fee of GHS500 for the second semester of 2021/2022 ending 31st August, 2022. Payment is to be made to any GIMPA main account”, the school said in a statement.
However, this move has caught the ire of students especially ones in the law faculty and it has brought a seeming tension on campus.
A group calling itself the ‘Concerned Students of the GIMPA Law Faculty’, in an iPetition said the fee translates to GHS7.4 parking fee per school day.
“The imposition of a GH500 premium parking service translates into an approximate cost of GHS7.4 parking fee per school day, GH1000 parking fee per academic year or GH1,500 when three semesters are run within a year (a case in point is the 2021 Year). We find this rate as outrageous and excessive to already overburdened law students of GIMPA”, the petition read.
“The Law Faculty parking space is designed purposely for the faculty, law students and other users of the building.”
“Parking, therefore must be on a first-come-first-served basis and not on a ‘premium-rate’ basis. The lack of pedestrian pathways leading to the faculty pose a high security risk to the safety of the students who would have to walk to the faculty”, it added.
Speaking to Pulse Ghana, one of the petitioners said the move is an inconsiderate one looking at the current state of the economy and the difficulty most students go through in paying their school fees.
He said the school is being intransigent by going ahead and labelling the car parks and they will take another line of action should they go ahead with policy.
“In Legon, they don’t charge students for parking spaces. What they do is charge for the use of other external gates and even that is GHS400 a year.”
According to GIMPA, a towing company’s services will be employed to enforce the rule.
“For enforcement purposes, a towing company will tow vehicles parked wrongly or in unapproved slots out of campus and the vehicle owners will bear the cost of towing.”
