Stadium contractors admit tartan tracks not good

Michelleti Limited, the company constructing the new-look Ohene Djan Stadium, has admitted that portions of the tartan athletics tracks at the $2.7 million refurbished El Wak stadium were not properly done.

It has accordingly given an undertaking to rectify the defects before the National Athletics Championships are held later in the month.

The construction firm, however, maintains that it took the best professional processes possible to ensure the project was sub-contracted to a competent firm which certified that the project was done over five weeks in compliance with international standards and run a number of tests on it before handing it over.

Reacting to an expose in last Friday's edition of the Graphic Sports, which laid bare the defects on the athletics tracks and criticisms by top national athletes and officials, Mr Stuart Ward, Project Manager of Micheletti Limited, acknowledged that portions of the tracks which had developed cracks and were peeling off were not properly done by the Italian firm, Artigian Service Group.

But he insists the firm has experience in constructing athletics tracks in Africa. The company's website www.artigianservice.com lists at least nine athletics tracks and several synthetic football fields as projects it had undertaken in Algeria between 2002 to date.

Also, following safety concerns raised by athletes over the unusual existence of concrete surface at the end of the long jump pit, Micheletti has ordered Artigian to ensure the concrete surface is replaced with tartan surface in conformity with international standards.

"I admit that the width of the synthetic surface at the area where the javelin takes place is not thick enough, so I have asked the sub-contractor from Italy to come back and fix it," Mr Ward told the Graphic Sports last Monday. "That's the only problem area but the rest of the tracks are ok and have the right thickness," he stressed.

Micheletti undertook landscaping and construction of the sub-structure with asphalt, while Artigian Services laid the tracks with synthetic materials that Mr Ward insists were certified by track and field's world governing body, IAAF.

"The materials used were certified, and based on the test report given by the company, there's nothing to show the facility is not compliant," Mr Ward said.

Last week, athletics officials including the chairman of the Ghana Athletics Association, Mr Sandy Osei-Agyeman, questioned the competence of the contractors in the face of the problems encountered on the EI-Wak tracks. However, for the Micheletti official, the criticisms about the company's track record are misplaced.

Despite defending Micheletti's due diligence and procedure taken in awarding the contract, Mr Ward promised to rectify other defects that are identified at EI-Wak.

"We vetted companies that sent in proposals and went through the best practices possible in the procurement before selecting a company with the right credentials, but if the athletes have specific problems, we have to deal with them.

"We have already written to the company to come back and rectify the faults but they have not responded quickly enough because their personnel are currently working on the tracks at the Baba Yara Stadium," he said.