12 done, 58 under construction, NPP’s sports infrastructure record

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has said that the government has outperformed the previous government when it comes to infrastructure development in sports.

Bawumia, at a town hall meeting organized on Tuesday, August 18, 2020, mentioned 68 as the number of infrastructure projects undertaken by the government since 2017.

The projects include the construction of youth resource centres in ten regions as well as the construction of astroturf pitches in some constituencies.

The renovation of the Accra, Kumasi and Tamale sports stadiums was also identified by Bawumia as an achievement for his government.

“Total of 68 sports projects have been undertaken since 2017. Twelve have been completed and 56 are ongoing. One of the key projects we are doing in the sporting area is the construction of ten 5000-seater youth and sports centres of excellence in ten regions and these are at various stages of completion”.

“The Accra Sports Stadium which has not been renovated in a decade has now been renovated. Renovation works at the Essipong and Kumasi sports stadia have also begun. Work has also resumed on the University of Ghana sports stadium. We are also constructing at least 29 astroturfs in several communities across the country”.

Regional Youth Resource Centres

The sod-cutting ceremonies for each of the ten resource centres were done in 2018.

The Minister of Youth and Sports promised that each facility was going to be ready in nine months.

However, more than two years from the statement from Isaac Asiamah not a single one of the projects has been declared ready for use.

Are astro-turfs the answer

Former Black Stars defender, Sammy Kuffour described the obsession with artificial pitches as a convenient way of addressing a more complicated problem.

In the wisdom of Sammy Kuffour, artificial pitches are not the answers to sports infrastructure problems.

“For me, it’s s not the best. How many young players are going to get injured? I tell you it’s not the best for the young players. The Europeans, they have stopped using it so why are we bringing it here?”

On whether the astro pitches are not an improvement on the existing grass-less pitches dotted across the country, Sammy Kuffour said “If we can do better ones then we do better ones because it’s not just doing astro pitches. How many young ones will get injured? Because the field doesn’t move you, you stay. The people here don’t think.”