Concern about poor coordination towards CAN 2008

Tamale, Dec. 31, GNA - The Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris has expressed dissatisfaction about the poor coordination between the major parties involved in the organisation of the Ghana 2008 tournament in Tamale.

He said if pragmatic measures were not put in place to foster proper coordination among the Tamale Venue Organising Committee (TVOC), the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) and the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly, the Region would not be able to properly host visitors. The Tamale Sports Stadium is one of the newly constructed stadiums to serve as a venue to host the Ghana 2008 Africa Cup of Nations scheduled for January 20 - February 10. The other venues are the rehabilitated Ohene Djan Sports Stadium in Accra and the Baba Yara stadium in Kumasi and the newly constructed Essipong stadium near Sekondi in the Western Region.

Alhaji Idris expressed the concern at the weekend when he paid a familiarisation tour to the CAN 2008 facilities to assess the extend to which they were ready for the event and to see what assistance the RCC could give to ensure that the Region organised a successful event. The Regional Minister was specifically not happy with activities of the Tamale Venue Committee saying, "Many things happen without my knowledge or that of the Metro Chief Executive. How can we succeed if we hide things from each other and without proper coordination", he asked. Alhaji Idris toured the Tamale Sports Stadium where he expressed his happiness and satisfaction about the beautiful modern edifice, the training pitches at the stadium, the completed training pitches at the Northern School of Business and the Tamale High School campuses. The Minister also visited hostel facilities at the University for Development Studies (UDS) and the Tamale Polytechnic campuses, which are also completed and awaiting handing over.

Alhaji Idris asked the contractors working on the projects, particularly those undertaking external works to report to him on daily basis about the progress of work while appealing to them to complete all works before January 8, 2008.