Work gets underway
The National, Thursday February 25th, 2016
By FRANCIS RODNEY PULU
WORK on the 17 training venues for the FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup started over the weekend.
Two engineering companies, Porohu and Bros Engineering, have been engaged by the PNG Sports Foundation to kick start the work on the two fields at the Sir John Guise Stadium.
Work on the other venues at a number of educational institutions throughout the city, will start shortly.
One of the workers at the Sir John Guise Stadium, who wished not to be named, said they would start on the two fields and then move onto the other grounds once cleared by authorities.
“We started work during the weekend and our first task was to clear the top soil and the drainage system on the two fields,” he said.
“Once we have cleared the top soil and the drainage systems we will put in pipes and the sprinkling system, followed by the final top soil for the grass to be planted.”
He said they were working according to requirements to ensure that the fields met FIFA standards for training by the 16 participating countries during the World Cup. The field dimensions are standard – 110 metres in length and 72 metres in width.
The company staff said they were working on target to complete the fields and any comments regarding the upgrade of the venues would have go through PNG Sports Foundation chief executive officer Peter Tsiamalili.
“We are on target and everything is in order so once we finish the two fields we will move onto the next fields.”
Sports and Tourism Minister Justin Tkatchenko said K20 million was secured from the 2015 Pacific Games savings to build two new mini stadiums at the Sir John Guise Stadium and Murray Barracks for the World Cup. It is not known whether the training venues will come under this funding.
The four stadiums inspected by the FIFA delegation last year are the Sir John Guise Stadium, National Football Stadium, Sir Hubert Murray Stadium and a mini stadium at the Bisini Soccer Parade.
Out of the four venues, only two – the NFS and the Sir John Guise Stadium – are ready while work at the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium and the Bisini fields is ongoing.