The youth and Sports Minister, Isaac Asiamah, made the announcement when he paid a working visit to Essipon last Monday to make a first-hand assessment of the facility.

No renovation for 13 years

The Sekondi Stadium, which was built 13 years ago for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations tournament hosted by Ghana, has not seen any repair works since then, leaving it in a bad shape with a lot of defects which pose a risk for patrons.

The renovation works, to be supervised by the Architectural and Engineering Services (AESL) Limited, with CISDAN Limited serving as the contractor,.is expected to last for 12 months.

Phases of renovation

The first phase will be the removal and replacement of existing defective roofing sheets, as well as the replacement of damaged roof structural steel frame members and bolts.

Other phases include corrosion protection works involving sand blasting to remove built-up rust and subsequently applying heavy duty coating system to guard against corrosion to metal structures from the Mid-West Stand to South Stand, and water proof treatment applied to leaking areas.

Repair of lift, Fire-Fighting System and Air-Condition units, general renovation of offices, plumbing works and replacement of existing defective sanitary appliances are the other rehabilitation works to be undertaken by the contractor.

Maintenance culture

Speaking to the media after the inspection exercise, Mr Asiamah stressed on the need for an attitudinal change in the culture of maintenance among Ghanaians. 

According to the minister, plans were underway to draft specific maintenance manuals for the various national sports stadia to strictly adhere to a maintenance culture.

“After Essipon is brought back to life, the ministry will ensure a religious maintenance culture. We will provide maintenance manuals for all the stadia that we are renovating,” he hinted.