Government to construct 100 astro turfs this year - Dr Bawumia

The Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has announced that the government will this year (2024) begin the construction of hundred astro turfs across Ghana.

So far, he said, the government had invested in the construction of about 155 astro turfs aside the existing three public astro turfs when it came into office for district and local level sports.

Dr Bawumia who made this known at the 48th edition of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) awards in Accra on Friday night (January 12, 2024) urged players in the sports sector to adopt a modern approach to sports facilities management to ensure that the country maximized the full benefits of the facilities and also maintained the standard of the facilities. 

Sports tourism

He said leveraging on its status as a peaceful and hospitable country, coupled with its beautiful weather, part of the objective of the government was to make Ghana a hub for sports tourism and a training centre in West Africa.

He indicated that could not be achieved “if we do not build more infrastructure and also prioritise the maintenance of sports facilities including the new ones we are building.”

Making specific reference to the African continent, the Vice-President said, such modern facilities which hosted international competitions ended up as white elephants, mainly as a result of lack of maintenance and inadequate use of the facilities.

That, he said, should not be the case for Ghana and charged various sports federations to revive their respective calendars and be more active, as both the grassroots and professional levels could make good use of the facilities.

Awards

Gary Al Smith of the Multi Media Group was adjudged the SWAG journalist of the year. He received a medal, a memento and an amount of GH¢10,000 donated by the Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia

Comfort Yeboah of Ampem Darkoa Ladies also won the award for the Female Footballer of the Year (Home based). She also received an amount of GHC10, 000 GHC from Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

Other award winners on the night were, Black Stars and Westham’s  Mohammed Kudus who  for the second consecutive time won the Sports Personality of the Year and Male Footballer of the Year (Foreign based).
Jonathan Sowah of Medeama SC and the Black Stars also won the Male Footballer of the Year (Home based).

Other winners were Priscilla Adubea, Female Footballer of the Year (Foreign based), Coach Augustine Evans Adotey of Medeama SC, Coach of the Year. The award for Dedication and Valour included Rev Emmanuel Nikoi of the Ghana Netball Federation.

Rosalind Amoh and Maurice Quansah of the Graphic Communications Group also won awards for their long service to SWAG. 

Sports development

Highlighting the rationale behind the commitment of the government to the new sports development agenda, Dr Bawumia explained that on realising there was inadequate sports infrastructure from national, regional and district levels, the government set out an ambitious programme to invest heavily in providing sports infrastructure across board.

For the then ten regions, he said, “we decided to construct multipurpose sports stadium in each of the regions commencing with phase one in 2018.”

“Today six of the ten sports stadium with multiple sports facilities and resource centres are ready. So far the Koforidua stadium has been inaugurated and in the next few weeks Wa, Ho, Axim, Dormaa and Dunkwa on Offin will be inaugurated and the other four under construction are expected to be completed this year,” Dr Bawumia added. 

African games

As part of the vision of the government to develop adequate multi discipline sports infrastructure to aid the development of sports and not just football, he said, the government decided that the country should host the African games.

He said the decision to host the games was to ensure that the country achieved a generational objective of having world class facilities for multi sports disciplines.

“At the Borteyman Sports Complex in Accra, we have built a world-class aquatic centre, with 10 lane competition pool and another 10 lanes for warm up and a 1000 seater multipurpose sports hall for indoor sports such as basketball, boxing, volleyball, handball and other indoor games,” he said.

The complex, according to Dr Bawumia also has an additional world class tennis courts, another 1000 seater dome for more indoor games, a warm up athletics track and a standard football field. 

Furthermore, he said, the government has virtually completed the University of Ghana stadium, another venue for the games, which he said, has been upgraded to international standard with modern athletic tracks, a standard warm up athletics track beside the stadium as well as a standard football pitch.

“Also, at the University of Ghana we are building a standard rugby pitch” he said pointing out that the hosting of the games would leave the country a legacy of infrastructure for sports development and promotion.

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, urged all to use the impending African games to strengthen the bonds of friendship and collaboration across the continent.

The President of SWAG, Kwabena Yeboah, for his part also paid tribute to the founding fathers of the SWAG awards and observed that the African games were not merely a sporting prowess but an unprecedented opportunity for the nation to undergo a transformative experience that extends beyond the realms of sports.

Mr Yeboah, therefore, expressed grave concern about the deplorable state of some sports infrastructure and called for the establishment of robust systems to guarantee the sustainability of the facilities.