The Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, has urged the government to establish a dedicated fund for the maintenance of sports facilities across Ghana.
Over the years, many of the country’s sporting venues have fallen into disrepair due to inadequate upkeep.
Addressing Parliament during the approval of a GHC 65 million budget allocation for the Ministry of Sports and Recreation, Annoh-Dompreh—who also serves as the Minority Chief Whip—stressed the need for consistent funding to preserve these infrastructures.
“There should be a line budget dedicated to the maintenance of these sports facilities because we’ve invested so much into these infrastructures, and it cannot be the case that we leave them as they are until we have a tournament coming up before we step in,” he said.
He further emphasized the importance of routine maintenance to safeguard national assets.
“It has to be done traditionally and is something we must commit to in order to ensure that national assets don’t run down. We (parliamentarians) will approve the budget contingent on you [Chairman Henry Ernest Norgbey and the Ranking Member of the Sports Committee of Parliament] following up. Chairman, follow up to make sure we get allocation for maintenance,” he added.
In recent years, Ghana has faced challenges due to the poor maintenance of key sports venues.
The Baba Yara Stadium and the Cape Coast Sports Stadium were recently banned from hosting CAF and FIFA-sanctioned matches due to their deteriorating conditions.
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