With barely nine days to commemorate the second anniversary of the painful May 9 disaster, the Osu stands of the Accra sports Stadium has been declared unsafe to house sports fans.
A principal consultant, Mr. Yaw Baning- Dako said the safety of the stands, according to cannot be guaranteed until it is pulled down for reconstruction at a minimum cost of 6.5 billion cedis. This came to light when the newly appointed Minister for Education, Youth and Sports, Honourable Kwajo Baah-Wiredu inspected the stadium as part of his familiarisation tour of institutions under the ministry on Thursday.
The closure of that portion of the stadium, the minister explained is to avert another disaster even though the exercise would deny football fans the use of the Osu Stand during this year's CAF champion's league campaign of Accra Hearts of Oak. As a temporary measure fans would be forced to occupy the lower parts of the Osu stands where the ministry and the National Sports Council would fix chairs for their comfort.
Again as part of the measures to cushion the Phobians financially while the stands are closed, the National Sports Council has agreed to take only five out of the 10% net rate charged when they host their opponent in Africa.
Mr. Baah Wiredu said the ministry is not happy about the state of the stands and promised that everything would be done to rebuild the place to acceptable standards. He stressed that it is not worth sacrificing lives for money and hence the decision to avert any possible disaster from reoccurring.
The stand which would be raised to the level of the May Nine Stand when the Re-construction is completed would have the same sitting capacity and broader stairs to allow free movement during activities.
Though it is unknown when construction work would commence indications are that the ministry would in the course of the week present a paper to parliament seeking a portion of the contingency fund for work to begin.
With barely nine days to commemorate the second anniversary of the painful May 9 disaster, the Osu stands of the Accra sports Stadium has been declared unsafe to house sports fans.
A principal consultant, Mr. Yaw Baning- Dako said the safety of the stands, according to cannot be guaranteed until it is pulled down for reconstruction at a minimum cost of 6.5 billion cedis. This came to light when the newly appointed Minister for Education, Youth and Sports, Honourable Kwajo Baah-Wiredu inspected the stadium as part of his familiarisation tour of institutions under the ministry on Thursday.
The closure of that portion of the stadium, the minister explained is to avert another disaster even though the exercise would deny football fans the use of the Osu Stand during this year's CAF champion's league campaign of Accra Hearts of Oak. As a temporary measure fans would be forced to occupy the lower parts of the Osu stands where the ministry and the National Sports Council would fix chairs for their comfort.
Again as part of the measures to cushion the Phobians financially while the stands are closed, the National Sports Council has agreed to take only five out of the 10% net rate charged when they host their opponent in Africa.
Mr. Baah Wiredu said the ministry is not happy about the state of the stands and promised that everything would be done to rebuild the place to acceptable standards. He stressed that it is not worth sacrificing lives for money and hence the decision to avert any possible disaster from reoccurring.
The stand which would be raised to the level of the May Nine Stand when the Re-construction is completed would have the same sitting capacity and broader stairs to allow free movement during activities.
Though it is unknown when construction work would commence indications are that the ministry would in the course of the week present a paper to parliament seeking a portion of the contingency fund for work to begin.
