After years of neglect that left the once-proud Sekondi Sports Stadium in a deplorable condition, the renovation of the sporting facility has now brought renewed hope to the people of Sekondi-Takoradi and the wider Western Region. The sight of a rejuvenated stadium should ordinarily be a moment of celebration.
But celebration must be accompanied by a sober question: How do we ensure that the Sekondi Stadium does not return to the very condition that necessitated its rehabilitation? This is the question raised by the Western Regional Minister, Joseph Nelson, during his inspection of the facility, which The Chronicle supports.
Ghana has too often fallen into an expensive and frustrating cycle of building a public infrastructure, allow it to deteriorate through neglect, spend scarce public resources in rehabilitating it and then repeat the process years later.The whopping $3.1 millionused for the renovation, which are from the suffering tax payers, is the reason the Sekondi Stadium must not become another example of this cycle.
The public paid for the original construction of the facility. They have again invested in the renovationto bring it back to acceptable standard. It would, therefore, be irresponsible to allow the renewed investment to be squandered through poor management, inadequate maintenance or prolonged inactivity.
The Chronicle agrees with the Minister’s call for a sustainable utilisation and revenue-generation plan. A stadium cannot survive merely because it has been renovated. It must be used, maintained and managed as a living public asset.
The absence of a major professional football club in the Western region regularly using the facility should not become an excuse for keeping it idle.If professional football cannot provide sufficient activity, the authorities must think beyond football.
Athletic competitions, school sporting events, community tournaments, entertainment programmes, exhibitions, conferences and other legitimate commercial activities could help keep the facility busy. The National Sports Authority should learn from how Gold fields built the TNA stadium and how they are managing it.
More importantly, the National Sports Authority and the Ministry of Sports must establish a transparent maintenance system, under which revenue generated from the facility contributes directly to its upkeep.
There must also be clear responsibility for the provision of 24-hour security. The reported theft of cables and other installations from the stadium before the rehabilitation is a warning that cannot be ignored. A renovated facility without adequate security is an invitation to repeat the mistakes of the past.
Maintenance should not wait until facilities begin to collapse.Regular inspections, preventive repairs, proper security and routine cleaning should become part of the stadium’s permanent management system.
The people of Sekondi and the Western Region deserve better.The stadium has historical and social value beyond the concrete seats and playing field.
It represents memories of sporting contests, community gatherings and opportunities for young people to develop their talents.
Allowing such a facility to deteriorate once again would amount not only to throwing money down the drain, but also to denying future generations an important public sporting asset.
Lessons from the stadium’s past history of neglect should be clear: rehabilitation is not the destination; it is the beginning of responsible management.Government must resist the temptation to regard the completion of the project as the end of its responsibility.
The real measure of success will be whether the facility remains functional, secure and financially sustainable for years to come.
We cannot afford to spend public money rehabilitating the Stadium today, only to return with another rehabilitation contract tomorrow.
The stadium has been given another lease of life and we must all ensure that we never again leave it to deteriorate.
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