The joy of grassroots sports enthusiasts in Anambra State has been cut short as the N80 million tartan tracks laid at the Rojenny Stadium, Oba, Idemili South Local Government Area of the state, has become water-logged, with parts of it sinking, barely six months after it was laid.

The project, which was allegedly contracted to one Mr Solomon Ogba by the Anambra State Government, was said to have been supervised by the State Ministry of Sports under the watch of the Commissioner, Mr. Tony Nnacheta.

Proprietor of the 38-year-old stadium, Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka, who said he was neither involved in the handling nor execution of the flawed contract, described it as a big embarrassment.

His words: “The contractor made a mess of the whole job. It’s very sad that N80 million was spent on this manner of project. You saw it for yourself; some parts of the tartan track is water-logged, with the track hanging loosely to its base. Some areas are also sinking in and, as you saw, they are marked with white chalk for repairs. How can a tartan track laid barely six months ago be undergoing repairs in a very short space of time? That is to say that it was not properly done in the first place.

“The whole thing is a total mess and, yet, the contractor was paid. How can someone be paid N80 million for that kind of track and beat his chest that the job is done? It’s your duty as journalists to dig deep; sportswriters have a lot to do. They should become more investigative in order to expose these kinds of people in our society, who collect money for contracts they know nothing about and end up with substandard work.”

Chief Ezeonwuka queried the sincerity of Mr. Nnacheta who engaged such a contractor that displayed ignorance of sports facilities.

He said: “Commissioner for Sports committed blunder by bringing a contractor that is not knowledgeable in the area of sports facility. Instead of using 14 or 15 inches of tartan tracks, they used below standard. The commissioner wasn’t sincere; and the state government must be blamed for the dilapidation of those tartan tracks.”

Chief Ezeonwuka added: “Sports activities in Anambra State are hopeless and the ministry has killed sports completely because the commissioner handling it is not doing anything. There is no data of sports men and women in the state. There is no focus by the powers-that-be in the state in sports here: no sports calendar, nothing is done about the retiring coaches and they have not been replaced either. How can you be a sports commissioner when you don’t know what is happening in sports? Facilities are there and potential stars are there, yet, nothing is happening. The system is comatose. I am declaring a state of emergency on sports in Anambra State.”

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