K100,000 needed yearly to maintain stadium

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By PISAI GUMAR
THE PNG Sports Foundation needs K100,000 annually to maintain the Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium in Lae for sporting and public events, regional manager Geoffrey Gideon says.
The stadium will be the venue for 42nd Independence Day celebrations next week with Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae as chief guest. The ground is currently overgrown with grass due to rain in Lae over the past months.
Gideon said poor drainage system forced water from residential areas along Airways Street to flow into the stadium.
It is also the venue of the national volleyball championships during the Independence weekend.
The Lutheran Church’s 500th year anniversary of the Reformation (1517-2017) celebration will also be held there on Oct 31.
Butibam youths were engaged to cut the grass around the volleyball and netball courts. Gideon said it cost K20,000 to maintain the outdoor complex alone.
Gideon briefed Independence Day committee chairman and Lae district administrator Robin Calistus on the situation at the stadium.
“This stadium serves the Lae community to host sports for schools, church and women’s group events, political rallies, independence celebrations, corporate challenges, provincial day events,” Gideon said.
“It’s a community-oriented stadium.”
Calistus said the K1.8 million synthetic track built in 2014 had been damaged by flooding.