Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, the former head of the Ghanaian National Development Planning Commission, has raised concerns over the safety of the Cape Coast Sports Stadium, blaming “shoddy” Chinese work for the poor state of the venue.
The multi-use facility only opened in May 2016, but Thompson has picked out a series of issues that place its long-term future in doubt.
Ghana Premier League football club Ebusua Dwarfs plays its home games at the venue.
Thompson told Citi FM that “there are cracks everywhere” in the stadium and also criticised developers for writing signage predominantly in Chinese, with English – Ghana’s national language – in smaller font underneath.
“[There are cracks at] the base of the floodlight at the Cape Coast Stadium, which was built by the Chinese in 2016,” Thompson said. “There are cracks in the second base too.
“In fact, there are cracks everywhere in that stadium. It’s a disaster waiting to happen.
“And therein lies the qualitative aspect of Chinese loans or grants. They do shoddy work for contracts that are grossly inflated because they’re effectively open-sourced from China and China only.
“And since all the technical drawings are in Chinese, you always have to fly them back to do any major repairs.”
Thompson drew comparisons between the Cape Coast Stadium and the Accra Court Complex, which, opened in 2015 and built by the Chinese, has also drawn criticism.
“The Accra Court Complex, built in 2015 by a Chinese firm, is no different,” he said. “It’s rotting from the inside out, with waterlogged walls and peeling paint. Of course our poor maintenance culture doesn’t help any.”
Image: Pixabay
Share this