A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Sunday, October 8 for the construction of an Astro-turf at Ho Technical University with the funding coming from Ghana National Gas Company.
This Astro-turf becomes the first of its kind in the Ho municipality to develop and shape footballing talents and create a positive economic impact in the Volta Region.
The many Astro-turf projects across the country are part of government efforts to address the infrastructure challenges in the sports sector.
The Ho facility adds to the over 152 Astro-turfs erected in many other parts of the country by the gas company since 2019, compared to just three in Ghana some years back.
The FIFA-standard Astro-turf facility is expected to be completed within six months and is 105 by 68 in dimension. It will be constructed by Landwind Company Limited.
Astro-turf comes with so many benefits such as durability, pet-friendliness, long-lasting, cost-effectiveness and offers flexible design options as well as having a low-maintenance rate.
The Ho Municipal Chief Executive, Hon. Divine Bosson, thanked the gas company and said football was a multi-billion-dollar business but the Volta Region lacked the facilities and expertise to develop talents; hence, his office will continue to support to create the needed impact in the region.
“Today, talents are getting wasted in town because they don’t even have a place to train or play. Our only stadium has become worried to many sports loving individual,” he said.
According to him, sports men and women abound in the Region and that if they can annex these talents, it will become their first industry in the municipality.
“If we have Dede Ayew talents coming from Ho playing in the national team or playing professional, the foreign exchange that will come into the region to friends and among others.
“And this is just the beginning of the two beautiful Astro-turf that will be building before leaving office as an MCE and we’re breaking the eight.”
According to him, the sod-cutting is an indication of government commitment to the good people of the Volta Region.
“We don’t produce gas in Ho but because it is natural resources and that proceeds from the resources is being given to us by government through Ghana Gas that we should also build our beautiful Astro-turf,” he expressed.
The Vice Chancellor of Ho Technical University, Prof. Ben Honyenuga, was full of praise for the gas company and assured the teeming gathering of the school’s support and readiness for the construction of the multi-purpose turf at the Ho campus.
A manager at the CSR Department of Ghana Gas, Francis Augustus Badu, thanked Togbe Afede XIV, Delphine Dogbegah, a board member of Ghana Gas, and the University Management, assuring of Ghana Gas’s commitment to ensure sports infrastructure like the Astro-turf is completed at the Ho Technical University.
He further reiterated the gas company’s by-products, which is the proceeds, will be shared across the country by government in the area of sports, education, health and water and sanitation.