Asaba 2022 gets new swimming pool, tartan track, indoor hall

To live up to it’s promise of hosting the best National Sports Festival ever, Delta State government is putting in place a brand new swimming pool, indoor sports hall and tartan track for Asaba 2022 Games. The Sports Festival, which is in its 21st edition, will hold between November 28 and December 10.

Last week, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa charged contractors handling the various projects to redouble efforts to meet completion deadline.

An official of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) told The Guardian yesterday, that there has been ‘great’ improvement in the construction of projects.

“As we speak, the contractors are working day and night, and I am very sure the facilities will be ready before the November 18 deadline,” the official said.

“The beauty of it is that the government and people of Delta State are installing brand new facilities for the National Sports Festival. The tartan track, which was used for Asaba 2018 Africa Senior Athletics Championship has been removed completely and a new one is being put in place.

“The swimming pool is completely new and the government is also building a new Indoor Sports Hall. New roofing of the stadium complex is also going on,” the official stated.

The Guardian learnt yesterday that a combined LOC/MOC and Technical meeting will hold in Asaba later this week to enable the people have an on-the-spot assessment of the facilities and area the contractors need to work on ahead the National Sports Festival.

Asaba is the third city in the South-south region to host the National Sports Festival after Edo and Rivers State. While Benin City has hosted the Games on three occasions, 1981, 2002 and 2021, the city of Port Harcourt has staged it twice, 1988 and 2011.