Venue for Greater Accra Independence Day celebration in deplorable state
Preparations are underway at the Tema Sports Stadium ahead of the Greater Accra Regional Independence Day parade to be hosted by the harbour city.
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When the Daily Graphic visited the stadium, the venue for the event, the facility was being prepared.
This is the first time the regional celebrations are being centralised by the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council.
Ahead of the March 6 parade on Monday, there has been a step-up in rehearsals by members of the various security and selected schools in the region.
Labourers had been hired to weed overgrown weeds, while some portions of the facility had been whitewashed.
Renovation
The state of the canopy over the spectators' stand
The Tema Sports Stadium, which serves as the home ground of clubs such as the Tema Youth in the lower tier leagues, is, however, currently in a dilapidated state and would require an upgrade. The facility is in such poor state that it even poses a threat to human lives.
Plastic seats on the only available spectators’ stand has been ripped off, while the concrete slabs for holding the seats have been destroyed. Also, a canopy, which provides shade, was dangling dangerously, during a visit to the facility yesterday.
The Daily Graphic gathered that the last major renovation of the facility took place prior to Ghana hosting the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.
The renovation, the paper was told, was carried out by the Ghana Football Association, through a FIFA assisted project, and later handed over to the National Sports Authority (NSA) after the tournament.
During the tour, it was also observed that parts of the stadium’s walls had cracked, with exposed iron rods at some portions, while the metal gates around the stadium were very rusty. The toilet facilities have also broken down.
The environment outside the football pitch had overgrown weeds covering most of the landscape.
Ahead of the Greater Accra Regional Parade of Ghana’s 66th Independence Day commemoration on Monday, the surrounding bushes have been cleared and burnt.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive of Tema, Yohane Amarh Ashitey, told the Daily Graphic that the Tema Metropolitan Assembly had to intervene to ensure that the facility was ready to host the rest of the region.
Officials of the NSA at the stadium declined to comment on the state of the facility when the Daily Graphic approached them.
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