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Member of Parliament for Okaikwei Central Constituency, Patrick Yaw Boamah, has commissioned an Astro turf sports field at the Apenkwa Presbyterian Government School.
This brings to two the number of such facilities that have been constructed in the constituency following the completion and commissioning of the Sheikh Osmanu Sharubutu Sports Complex at New Fadama in December last year.
Addressing the programme, Mr. Boamah admonished the community and users of the field to observe proper maintenance culture and ensure the facility is well cared for to prolong its life span.
He pointed out that future generations also have the right to benefit from the field because it is not a project just for the youth of today.
“I believe that with support of the church and soccer teams around we will put together an arrangement that will ensure that the facility is well managed for the benefit of everyone in and around the Okaikoi Central Constituency,” he said.
Narrating the genesis of the project, Mr. Patrick Boamah stated that together with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the Presbyterian Church Apenkwa, decided to upgrade the field, which was in a very poor state.
Apenkwa, he said, has developed a lot of sporting talents but lately all the fields where these talents were nurtured have deteriorated.
According to him, it became one of his initiatives to build new football fields where they are needed and upgrade others.
With the backing of the National Chief Imam, the GNPC Foundation came in to support the project.
The facility, he said, is there for all within and outside the constituency but stressed what is required is its proper maintenance.
Minister-designate for Sports and also MP for Yabaga Kabori, Mustapha Ussif, who was present for commissioning praised the project as very laudable.
He commended GNPC for the invaluable support and disclosed that until the company began constructing the Astro turfs, there were only two in the entire country.
The effort of the GNPC Foundation, he said, is bringing back the passion for community sports, which hitherto had fizzled away.
He urged other corporate institutions to emulate what GNPC is doing so that every constituency in the country will have three or four of these sports facilities.
He stressed that the participation of GNPC is testimony government is committed to sport’s infrastructure development for communities.
“We are determined to revive community sports but if we are going to succeed in this effort we need such facilities to be able to achieve our objectives. ”
“With these facilities we will be able to discover and harness sporting talents for the local leagues and the national teams,” he said.
Mr. Dominic Duah from the GNPC Foundation, in his address noted that the project has been done very well and praised the contractor for a good job.
He appealed to the community to maintain the facility very well and stressed the Foundation has done its part and provided the field.
“It is now your responsibility to adopt sustainable maintenance culture to take care of this field,” he stated.
He disclosed that GNPC is currently constructing 30 Astro turfs around the country out of which some have been completed while others are ongoing.
He stressed that developing sports at the community level is the best way to build a successful sports sector for the country.
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Frontpageghana.com/Ghana
