Jos – The firm handling the construction of N11.6 billion new Jos Stadium on Zaria Road, has raised an alarm over the rot arising from the project’s abandonment by the government.
A check by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Jos revealed that the Contractor, BCC Tropical Nig. Ltd., has intimated the government about the decay of the installed facilities.
NAN reports that in a letter dated Sept. 15, the contractors informed Gov. Simon Lalong on the bad state of the completed football pitch and other equipment left to rainfalls, humidity and sun.
A reliable source from the state’s Ministry of Sports, who spoke to NAN anonymously, expressed worry over the “attitude and un-seriousness of the government’’ to the completion of the six-year-old project.
The source noted that the increasing cost of materials due to the country’s economic recession had added to the amount to be used in completing the edifice.
“The contractor also wrote to us in the sports ministry, specifically to the commissioner, alerting him of the non-maintenance of the Artificial Turf and its consequences,’’ the source said.
The letter, signed by the firm’s Managing Director, Mr Plamen Iliev, said: “Your Excellency, the main reasons for raising this alarm are several, including the serious deterioration of the already installed artificial turf football pitch due to lack of maintenance.
“If immediate overhaul is not done, the cost implication for the client to restore the pitch at a later time to its previous quality will be enormous ’’.
According to the contractor, since Nov. 2014, two imported scoreboards worth N1.3 billion, awaiting installation, are left at the mercy of harsh weather.
Also, lying waste are the imported steel profiles for roofing the structure which are now exposed to humidity and rust, thereby affecting their structural strength.
The firm argued that because the main building had not been roofed, its interior was opened to rain water which affects the steel frames, doors, floor finishing and Plaster of Paris (POP).
The rest are the suspended ceilings, pipings, fittings, appliances and electrical wires among others.
“The continuous exposure to such conditions inevitably will damage most of the equipment, creating uncertainty about the successful completion of the project without more unnecessary expenditure, ’’ the letter said.
Mr Emmanuel Nanle, Director of Press to the Governor, told NAN that even though he was unaware of the contractor’s letter, the government was keen on completing the project.
“This administration is keen at completing the stadium as soon as possible.
“We are thinking that before the end of this year it will be completed but when we were told of what is expected to be done, we only released funds toward the roofing.
“We are just waiting for funds to be available and then we shall complete it without further delay; I’m assuring you that Gov. Lalong is interested in completing the stadium without further delay,’’ Nanle said.
He added that “there is no way the two scoreboard can be installed when the stadium is not roofed; but by God’s grace, very soon that will be taken care of’’.