After an 7-years wait hoping that the government will fulfill its promise of renovating the Essipong Stadium in Sekondi in the Western Region, some section of sports journalists and residents in Sekondi- Takoradi have called on the government to renovate the rejected facility.
In an interview with Joy Sports monitored by Domesticsportsgh.com, revealed a worrying state of the facility.
According to their reports, outside of the stadium, and parts of the ceilings have completely been ripped off, other parts are dropping off. Washrooms are deteriorating. Nothing appeared to show a maintained stadium. The whole place is in a complete mess.
The reports also revealed that, there are worn-out chairs with rusty metal frames– ones that can inflict toxic wounds on anybody unlucky enough to be injured by the metals. Debris of sand used to work on a portion of the roof are scattered on the chairs. The scaffolds used to work on a section of the roof are still standing by, with the inner perimeter having sand scattered almost everywhere. It is a clear and present danger for anyone using the facility.
In an interview with Joy Sports, Stephen Kwame Yeboah, a sports personality at Connect FM in the Western Region said:
“We hosted the tournament in 2008, and from 2009 to 2019 when the then Sports Minister Hon. Isaac Asiamah visited the facility, the edifice has not seen any renovation works”.
The renowned journalist also recalled the minister’s assurance that there was a budget allocation for the renovation works to begin, giving the people hope that since the facility was constructed during an New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, another NPP government promising to renovate same was believable.
“But from 2019 to November 2021 when the Finance Minister said the renovation works was more than 90% completed, it came as a surprise to some of us because it has been a place we visited regularly to find out what was really going on, and even the MP for the area Joe Ghartey came up to challenge that assertion by the Finance Minister,” he said.
However, Kwame Yeboah, who has spent over 20 years in Sekondi Takoradi working as a sports presenter, wants leaders of the region to do better in advocating for the rehabilitated of the stadium.
In addition to Kwame Yeboah’s concerns, Benjamin Aboagye, a sports journalist with Skyy Power FM in Takoradi also expressed his concerns regarding the current state of the then beautiful Sekondi Sports Stadium and calls on government to quickly fix the stadium to its normalcy.
The claim by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to the effect that repair works were at 90% completion was inaccurate, and obviously, nothing is going on there to restore the stadium to its former glory.
The $38.5 million Sekondi Sports Stadium has not been in the best of conditions leaving the natives of the Western Region in a big worry.
Since its construction in 2008 by the NPP government for the use of the Africa Cup Of Nations, the venue has not undergone any major renovation leaving it to rot.
Major facilities in the stadium have been shut down due to lack of renovations, the stadium is currently not in use after it was dragged as a death trap for spectators, with the clubs in Sekondi-Takoradi currently using the Sekondi Gyandu park for their league home games.
The Sekondi Sports Stadium (also known as the Essipong Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium in Sekondi-Takoradi.
The Stadium hosted some matches during 2008 African Cup of Nations which was hosted by Ghana.
The stadium has a capacity of 20,000 people and opened in 2008 and looks similar to the Aliu Mahama Stadium in Tamale.
However, the Accra Sports Stadium and the Kumasi Baba Yara Sports Stadium have undergone a massive facelift leaving the one at Sekondi to rot.
See photos below:
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