12th September, 2012
Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly on inspection tour of facilities provided by the state for the oncoming 18th National Sports Festival have expressed concern over the slow pace of work at some selected venues for the festival scheduled for November this year.
The Chairman, House Committee on Youth, Sports and Social Development, Babatunde Ayeni, expressed dismay on behalf of the other members of the Committee, adding that the rehabilitation and construction work at the selected venues were not satisfactory enough.
Ayeni said the state government having spent so much money on the organisation of the fiesta would not compromise achieving its goals, hence those in charge must be serious.
The lawmaker said: “We are not happy with the rate of work at Agege Stadium.”
He observed that the perimeter fence of the stadium was not properly done, while the drainage system needed to be improved upon.
“When the main organisation Committee of the National Sport visits our facilities in October, we want almost everything to be in place,” he said.
A member of the House, Rotimi Olowo said: “We want both the Ministry of Works and Youth, Sports and Social Development to ensure adequate monitoring and supervision of the contractors handling these projects.”
At Rowe Park, Yaba, the Committee was impressed with the rehabilitation work and urged the contractor to speed up work in order to meet the deadline.
The Committee later visited the Teslim Balogun Stadium were in-door games, track and field events will be held.
The Permanent Secretary, Youth and Sport, Mr. Delano Adepoju-Conde, while commending the Committee for the visit, assured that the Ministry would consistently send detailed progress reports to the House.
—Eromosele Ebhomele