Some youth of Navrongo in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality have called on the government to as a matter of urgency complete the Navrongo sports stadium project.
The youth embarked on a protest against the government’s delay in completing the project.
They said the absence of the much-talked-about project was affecting sports development in the municipality and region.
The Navrongo sports stadium which comes with a youth resource centre is one of its kind in the region and one of ten similar projects being built in other parts of the country.
The project began in 2018 but has since stalled due to payment infractions between the government and the contractor.
Akwata Yaminu Stanislav, one of the conveners delivering their petition, said the government’s inability to complete the project amounted to depriving the people of Navrongo fair share of development projects.
He said, “At the sod-cutting ceremony in July 2018, we were categorically told the project will be completed in nine months. In fact, the contractor promised to finish it in 8 months and hand it over to us as a valentine’s gift. To wit, the project in normalcy should have been completed in 2019 even if it would have had some delays.
“We waited in 2019, waited in 2020 and waited in 2021 we still have no stadium of our own. There exists no completed football pitch worth of mention in the whole region.
“We do have talents in Navrongo and the Upper East at large but the no-stadium situation or worthy football pitch is derailing our efforts. Currently, there are no stadia in the region qualified for the Ghana Division One league football. Any team that qualifies from the Upper East Region have to choose between Tamale or Wa to play their home matches.”
He added, ” We are tired of waiting; our patience has run out and the usual diplomacy is jot working. So we are here today asking to see to the development of the Youth Resource Centre which includes a stadium.”
Legitimate concerns
For his part, the municipal chief executive, Joseph Adongo, commended the youth for peacefully conducting the protest.
He said the delay of the project was equally of great concern to him and the abandonment of work was giving him sleepless nights.
He, however, said he was in talks with the Upper East Regional Minister and the other relevant authorities to ensure the facility is completed to serve the people of Navrongo and the region.
While he lauded the protest of the youth as legitimate, he called for calm in the municipality as the government handles the issue.
He said, ” I’m very happy to see your faces on our premises today. I have seen your faces and you’re not violent. You’re trying to bring out an issue that is burning deep down in you. And you’re doing this professionally.
“I’m happy we have all come together to see the need to speak with one voice to alert the government that this is a need, it is necessary and we need to have this particular facility in place,” Adongo stressed.
Senyalah Castro
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