Our attention has been drawn to the above publication on citionline.com attributed to Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, former head of the National Development Planning Commission about the alleged deteriorating state of the Cape Coast Stadium.
According to him, the Cape Coast Stadium is a disaster waiting to happen in the near future, if precautionary measures are not adhered to and accused the Chinese contractors of shoddy and inflated cost of the construction. We cannot talk about the inflated cost of the contract and perhaps Dr. Thompson knows more than what he is giving Ghanaians.
It is important that we set the records straight. The structure passed a Structural Integrity Test before it was handed over to the Government of Ghana in 2016. What Dr. Nii Moi Thompson sees as structural defects are actually structural separation, where a pre-cast concrete product is produced by casting concrete into reusable mold or form which is then cured in a controlled environment, lifted into a proper place and plastered.
It is the exposure of this separation that he sees as a structural defect. Some of the plastering works have been removed and not the structure itself that is defective. Regarding the signage in Chinese language, the Ministry of Youth and Sports is working with the Chinese Embassy and the contractor to get it translated into English. We have commission the A.E.S.L. to undertake structural integrity test on the facility and advise us.
In December 2017 and June 2018, a CAF inspection team visited the Cape Coast Stadium as one of the venues for the AWCON 2018 championship and has found nothing wrong with the stadium’s readiness to host matches.
We are therefore at a loss as to why a senior member of the previous Government will be making such comments when Government is making efforts to attract Chinese investment into the country.
It is important for us to be patriotic and to put Ghana beyond our partisan consideration, particularly when the publication is coming at a time when Ghana is preparing to host the AWCON 2018 championship and Cape Coast is one of the venues. Or could it be that Mr. Thompson is worried about the strides the Government of Ghana is making to secure 2 billion Dollars from the Chinese Government to support our infrastructural development?
Courtesy: NSA PR Unit