By Juliet Aguiar DUGBARTEY, Tarkwa
The Gold Fields Ghana Foundation has handed over the newly constructed and refurbished Tarkwa & Abosso (T&A) Stadium in Tarkwa in the Western Region to the National Sports Authority.
The rehabilitation work on the T&A Stadium started in January 2020 and was completed in June this year at a cost of US$16.2m. This significant investment by the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation has transformed the 400-seat football park into an 8,000-plus seater world-class stadium, capable of hosting international matches.
The new stadium will be the home of Tarkwa based Premier League team, Medeama SC, which Gold Fields has supported for a number of years and who were last year crowned champions for the 2022/2023 season.
Mustapha Ussif, Minister of Youth and Sports expressed joy about the magnificent stadium; this is a testimony of the power of partnership and collaboration with community people”.
“the stadium, is a symbol of hope, an incredible resource for sports infrastructure and must be embraced as vibrant legacy to promote the local economy, fetch foreign exchange and put Ghana on the global map”.
Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, Western Regional Minister commended Gold Fields Ghana for the construction of the T& A Park.
“The region, is very happy for this investment and called for proper maintenance culture of the facility” he said.
George Mireku Duker, Member of Parliament for Tarkwa-Nsuaem said “This, is a legacy project that Golf Fields has bequeath us”.
He expressed hope that the stadium, will become an arena that would unearth talents and propel the socio-economic activities in the area.
Elliot Twum, VP and Interim Managing Director of Gold Fields Ghana said the stadium, is expected to facilitate the development of football in our host communities and the country, including women’s football.
Also, it is to provide a sustainable and environmentally friendly stadium for the people of Tarkwa and surrounding communities., without negatively affecting the sporting facilities usage.
Under proper guidance, he said the stadium may be used as a venue for non-sporting social events to the extent that it can accommodate.
“The T&A stadium, is a public facility, we are appealing to government, specifically the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, to reinstate the confirmation they initially issued to us for those projects to be treated as civil engineering works, and therefore exempt supply for Value Added Tax (VAT) purposes. This confirmation effectively meant that the project would not be chargeable to VAT amounting to about US$ 2million”, he added.
”The construction of the stadium will not only have a sporting impact,” said Michael Akafia, Gold Fields Ghana’s Vice-President External Affairs and current President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines. “The game of football has the potential of fostering social cohesion between communities. We decided on the investment after a comprehensive stakeholder consultative and engagement process with our host communities.
“The aim was also to provide a sustainable and environmentally friendly stadium for the people of Tarkwa and surrounding communities. It is expected to boost business activities, nurture young talent, and facilitate the development of football in Ghana, including women’s football,” he said.
In this, he adds, the impact of the stadium aligns with Gold Fields’ purpose of creating enduring value beyond mining. The stadium was constructed in line with FIFA’s sustainable building guidelines using building materials from sustainable sources and to be energy and water efficient.
Executive Secretary of Gold Fields Foundation Mr. Abdel Razak Yakubu said “It is a legacy project which Gold Fields believes will foster unity, bring communities together, help groom talents and provide a platform for socio-economic development, which will open up the area for business to thrive as well boost the local economy”.
He added that Gold Fields “creates value beyond mining and was happy about the handing over of the stadium”.
The contractor, Micheletti & Co, and several subcontractors employed 924 people from Tarkwa and surrounding communities in the construction of the stadium.
The T&A Stadium is the most recent project completed by the Gold Fields Foundation, which is committed to improving social and economic conditions in stakeholder communities through programmes in infrastructure development, education, health, water & sanitation, agriculture, and enterprise development.
The Foundation, which receives funding from Gold Fields Ghana’s Tarkwa and Damang mines, has spent over US$100m over the past two decades to ensure sustainable socio-economic development in host communities and strengthen Gold Fields’ social licence to operate.
