Rehabilitation of the Sunyani Coronation Park, home venue for newly promoted Premier League side Bofoakwa Tano is progressing steadily.

Construction of the new dressing room, which is the biggest task on the Coronation Park to meet the standard for the premier league, is at the lintel stage, while uprooting of unwanted grass and re-grassing of the pitch is half done.

The rehabilitation work, mostly championed by supporters of Bofoakwa Tano, has received a lot of support in resources and cash from the chiefs and people of Sunyani, the Bono Regional capital.

Donations

Notable among contributors to the new dressing room and park rehabilitation project are the Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu-Banahene; a Deputy Attorney-General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah; the Sunyani East Parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Seid Mubarak and the Sunyani Traditional Council.

Others are the defeated Sunyani East Parliamentary aspirant of the NDC, Kwabena Yeboah-Asuamah; Headmaster of the Sunyani Senior High School, Osei Marfo; Ericus Ventures and the Unity Trade Association, among others.

Some of the philanthropists presented cash, while others donated building materials such as bags of cement, trips of sand, lumber, tools and equipment required for the construction works.

Masons, carpenters, steel benders and other building experts among the supporters of the club have devoted themselves to the project.

Initially, the supporters of the club were only investing in the construction of a new dressing room but not the entire renovation of the facility.

Some fans of Bofoakwa Tano busily uprooting the unwanted grass on the pitch

However, after seeing the work which was moving at a snail’s pace and the other defects pointed out by the GFA Club Licensing Board, they shifted their attention to other areas such as rehabilitation of the pitch.

The Daily Graphic gathered from the fans that they were yet to receive financial support from the National Sports Authority (NSA).

They explained that the work done so far had been financed from the resources of the fans and the people in the city.

Visit  

As early as 7:20 a.m. when the Daily Graphic visited the Coronation Park last Monday to see the extent of work done, there were already some fans actively working on the pitch, while workers of the dressing room had started trooping in to commence work.

Additionally, the NSA had employed the services of inmates from the Sunyani Central Prisons and students from the Twene Amanfo Senior High and Technical School to speed up work.  

However, the Daily Graphic observed that since the start of the rehabilitation work,  fans had paid attention only to the dressing room and the pitch without giving equal attention to the other defects pointed out by the board within the facility, such as the supporters stands, safe zone, inner perimeter fencing, press centre and the reserve bench.

Assurance

That notwithstanding, the acting Bono Regional Director of the NSA, Foster Kwame Opoku Boakye, told the Daily Graphic that they were on course to complete all the defects pointed out by the board before the commencement of the league.

He admitted that there was a lot of work still left to be executed within the facility to meet the standard of the premier league, but gave an assurance that the Coronation Park would be ready before the start of the league.

Mr Boakye said they were dealing with the dressing room and the pitch because they were the crucial areas, adding that the supporters stands and other areas could be done while the league was in progress.

Construction of the Sunyani Coronation Park dressing room has reached lintel level

He said they needed about GH¢40,000 to enable them to connect pipes to the pitch to water the grass and appealed to donors to support them with funds, grass and fertiliser such as NPK, organic and nitrogen to fertilise the pitch.

Background

On June 13, the Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu-Banahene, accompanied by the Director-General of the NSA, Prof. Peter Twumasi and other officials, inspected the current state of the Coronation Park in preparation for the 2023/24 Premier League.

After the inspection, Prof. Twumasi informed the media that the dressing room would undergo rehabilitation, as constructing a new one within the limited time-frame of two months was impractical.

However, fans kicked against the decision of the NSA to renovate the dressing room ahead of the league, expressing fear that the Club Licensing Board might disqualify the venue if a new dressing room was not constructed as directed before the league commenced.

SOURCE: GraphicOnline