Tarkwa — The reconstruction of the Tarkwa and Abosso (T&A) park at Tarkwa in the Western Region is about 80 per cent complete, Gold Fields Ghana engineers have announced.
Though works are expected to be completed in December, the team conceded that, the project was behind schedule and needed to speed-up to be commissioned.
Funded by Gold Fields Ghana Foundation (GFGF) at the cost of $16.2 million, works being executed by Micheletti& Co.Ltd include a VVIP stand, general stands for spectators and officials, parking lots, an ambulance bay, LOC office, dressing rooms, offices for coaches and referees, a media centre and a commentary box.
Other facilities include flood lights, a physiotherapy and first aid office, office for Match Commissioners and referees and kits store.
Project Manager of Gold Fields Ghana Limited, Mr Roger Adama made the disclosure on Friday, when Member of Parliament for Tarkwa- Nsuaem, Mr George Mireku Duker, visited the site to assess the progress of work.
He said outstanding works including VVIP car park, grassing and maturing of the pitch needed quality assurance, and so "we are careful not to rush into commissioning."
Mr Adama assured that the project was on course and that, so far, the contractors have done a good work.
He said despite some changes in the scope "we are speeding up work and hopefully, the project would be completed on schedule by December, this year."
He told Mr Duker that initial works delayed due to extra works to stabilise the muddy ground conditions and fabrication of steel frames which had to be imported from Vietnam, coupled with COVID-19 lockdowns, and the inclement weather conditions in the Tarkwa enclave.
Mr Adama said "We went almost six meters and over in some places and had to import rocks to fill them. Surely, budgets really ballooned as we had to backfill and do compacting and also ensure that we test the soil very well and these tests are being done by our professionals, deeply involved, when it comes to quality control and quality assurance."
He added "So we are talking about this project being almost 80 percent completed and Gold Fields see the T&A stadium project as one of the legacy projects."
Responding, Mr Duker, also a Deputy Minister, Lands and Natural Resources, recalled the roles he played to lobby Gold Fields for the reconstruction of the T&A park in 2008, when he was the Chief Executive for the Tarkwa -Nsuaem Municipality.
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Gold Fields, he said, accepted the challenge to renovate the park and build a stadium for Tarkwa, but unfortunately, his tenure ended.
Again, in 2017,Mr Duker said, the idea to reconstruct the T&A park into a befitting status bounced back, and that, despite some opposition "I stood on my grounds to indicate that if you go to areas where they have developed infrastructure, they have what they call community parks."
Mr Duker commended Gold Fields and its former Vice President for West Africa, Alfred Baku, for their excellence in corporate social responsibility programmes, saying "I will commend you because you've always been part and parcel of this community."
He also praised Roger Adama as an efficient and proactive project manager, who had worked for the course of the community over the years and hoped that the T&A park project would be successfully executed.
