Parliamentary Committee Demands Apology

THE Parliamentary Select Committee on Education, Science and Sports, has directed the Central Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) to render an apology to the committee for an unfavourable reply sent by the council in response to the committee’s request to visit the region.

The RCC was said to have written that since the Central Region was not benefiting from CAN 2008, there was no need for the committee to visit the region as part of its tour of various sites.

The chairman of the committee, Isaac Asiamah demanded the apology when members met with the Regional Minister, Nana Ato Arthur at the residency here yesterday.

Even though the region was selected to benefit from the construction of a stadium for the CAN 2008, work on the proposed site is yet to commence 11 months to the start of the tournament.

Mr Asiamah said the letter from the RCC was unfortunate considering the role that the region was expected to play during the event.

He explained that the stadium would definitely be built by the government since it was the commitment to the government to provide a modern stadium for each region.

He said the region could consider accommodating some of the teams of the tournament considering its closeness to Accra and Takoradi, two of the venues for the tournament.

Additionally, he said, the various tourism destinations in the region stand a chance of playing a meaningful role in promoting the nation’s tourism.

On the various venues, Mr Asiamah expressed the committee’s appreciation to the work done, saying, 'the Sekondi Stadium for instance is about 90 per cent complete.'

Responding, Nana Ato Arthur on behalf of the RCC’s apologised to the committee and pledged that it would be followed by a formal letter.

He expressed the hope that the proposed stadium would be constructed as soon as possible since it was dear to the heart of the people in the region.

The members later visited the site for the proposed stadium located off the Cape Coast-Elmina road.