The Director of Operations at the Presidency, Lord Commey has cut the sod for the construction of an Ultra-Modern Super Wembly Sports Complex facility at the Losu par in Sukura, a Muslim-dominated community in Accra.
The facility which will be constructed by the Wembley Sports Construction Company, a wholly-Ghanaian owned company specialized in the construction of artificial parks, will not only be used for football activities alone, but will also support other sports disciplines in the community.
Addressing the gathering during a short but colourful ceremony, Lord Commey indicated that the development of sports is at the heart of the President of Ghana and that government will take every possible step to ensure the development of inner cities and the Zongo communities hence the construction of modern parks in all inner cities.
He described the initiative as a possible revolution in the sports infrastructure of the country and said the project is envisaged to help identify and nurture sports talents in all parts of the country.
On his part, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma Central Hon. Ebenezer Nii Naar Nartey said the Ablekuma Central constituency has lots of talents and one of them is in football and for that matter his office wliase with Lord Commey and the Wembly Company to extend the construction of the facility to all other communities including Tankase Park and others.
He averred that there is the need for the people to put their trust in the Akufo-Addo government which is ever ready and willing to bring development to the various communities and make lives better.
According to him, government is ensuring that these artificial parks are constructed in all inner cities because according to him “we are there because of you. Whatever we do, we do it for you, so we need your support to be able to achieve what we as government set out to do for you.”
The Mayor of Accra also indicated that the construction of the facility marks the humility and service to mankind being shown by Lord Commey and called for public support for the government of the day in order to bring more beautiful things to their doorsteps.
Giving a brief of the project, the General Manager of Wembly Sports Company, Nana Antwi said the world is changing in every discipline and sport has also been one of the fastest areas of development hence the migration from the usual parks and natural green parks to artificial parks.
According to him, his company had already completed the construction of similar facilities at Nungua, Kotobabi and Accra Academy and will continue with new projects in Kyebi, Walewale and Madina after the completion of the Sukura project.
He said Wembley Sports Complex (WSC), a privately owned Ghanaian Company with marked experience in the construction and management of artificial football pitches in Ghana which is set to construct artificial football pitches in all the 270 constituencies in the country.
The project “One Constituency, One Artificial Turf,” he indicated, will be sponsored by OmniBnak and its subsidiary Union Capital to free the country from its over-reliance on grass pitches due to inconsistent rainfall patterns.
“The project, when completed, would provide artificial pitches with floodlights and other ancillary facilities such as standard changing rooms, multipurpose courts for basketball, volleyball, gymnasium, handball, netball, running tracks with a target of transforming nationwide sports infrastructure.” He said.
Apart from providing a ripe avenue for the identification and grooming of potential sports talents, the facilities would also serve as an opportunity for keep-fit groups and individuals to have access to state-of-the-art training facilities.
Nana Antwi also indicated that Wembley Sports Complex (WSC) has the vision of extending the facilities to every district of the country in the nearby future as part of efforts aimed at maximizing the sporting potentials of the country.
Additionally, “the ‘ One Constituency, One Artificial Turf’ project is expected to generate economic benefits to local governments. The economic benefits of the project can also play an important role in policy-makers’ decisions regarding zoning, restrictions on land-uses, government purchase of lands for parks and similar initiatives.”
He stressed that by 2020 every Constituency will boast of an AstroTurf and called on MPs, DCEs and others to support the idea and ensure that sports is given much and needed boost in the country.
By:PROSPER AGBENYEGA