Garden City Games Coaches demand special routes to ease movement
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- Written by David Ngobua, Port-Harcourt
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Some of the officials who spoke to Trustsports said the matter has been made worse due to the scattered nature of the match venues unlike what was obtained at KADA Games where almost all events took place at Muritala Muhammed square.
In addition, they said the location of the games village at University of Port-Harcourt, Choba has made things worse because athletes and their officials have to cover several kilometers before reaching their match venues.
Subsequently, they called on organizers of the festival to clear some routes in the town and reserve them for use by buses and other vehicles that convey athletes to match venues.
Bakari Shamaki of Taraba State said the transportation problem has posed a serious challenge to athletes because some of them are forced to miss matches because of the hold ups on the roads.
“To speak the truth, we are having transportation problems. It takes us up to four hours from the games village to the venues. All the coaches are discussing the same thing. If you have a competition by 10am, you have to leave around 5am if you are to meet up.
“We are appealing to government to leave one of the lanes exclusively for us. It will ease our movement to match venues.
“We have good venues but the problem is transportation from the hostels to the venues. There is too much hold”.
Coach Shola Makanjoula of Ondo State said the accommodation provided is not bad but it is too far from the competition venues.
“Accommodation provided is good but very far from our venues. This is a major problem. Yesterday, I spent what I did not expect. I spent N3, 000 going and coming. In all I spent N6, 000 out of the little allowance I am paid. This is not funny.
“The hold up on the roads is causing a lot of problems. If the organizers would create special routes for us, it would reduce the stress”.
Coach Abubakar Zimojhan of Bayels on his part called on the organizers to provide special routes and special buses for athletes.
He said during the 2004 national sports festival in Abuja, special buses were kept aside to convey athletes who needed to catch up with events far away from them.
“It will do a lot of good if special routes and special buses are provided for us.”
Articles
Garden City Games Coaches demand special routes to ease movement
Category: Sports Written by David Ngobua, Port-Harcourt Hits: 544
Following serious traffic jams on the streets of Port-Harcourt, athletes and officials of the states taking part in the ongoing national sports festival have called on the organizers to urgently create special routes to ease their movement to match venues. State contingents have continued to complain of the long hours they are forced to spend in endless hold ups each time they want to go to their match venues.Some of the officials who spoke to Trustsports said the matter has been made worse due to the scattered nature of the match venues unlike what was obtained at KADA Games where almost all events took place at Muritala Muhammed square.
In addition, they said the location of the games village at University of Port-Harcourt, Choba has made things worse because athletes and their officials have to cover several kilometers before reaching their match venues.
Subsequently, they called on organizers of the festival to clear some routes in the town and reserve them for use by buses and other vehicles that convey athletes to match venues.
Bakari Shamaki of Taraba State said the transportation problem has posed a serious challenge to athletes because some of them are forced to miss matches because of the hold ups on the roads.
“To speak the truth, we are having transportation problems. It takes us up to four hours from the games village to the venues. All the coaches are discussing the same thing. If you have a competition by 10am, you have to leave around 5am if you are to meet up.
“We are appealing to government to leave one of the lanes exclusively for us. It will ease our movement to match venues.
“We have good venues but the problem is transportation from the hostels to the venues. There is too much hold”.
Coach Shola Makanjoula of Ondo State said the accommodation provided is not bad but it is too far from the competition venues.
“Accommodation provided is good but very far from our venues. This is a major problem. Yesterday, I spent what I did not expect. I spent N3, 000 going and coming. In all I spent N6, 000 out of the little allowance I am paid. This is not funny.
“The hold up on the roads is causing a lot of problems. If the organizers would create special routes for us, it would reduce the stress”.
Coach Abubakar Zimojhan of Bayels on his part called on the organizers to provide special routes and special buses for athletes.
He said during the 2004 national sports festival in Abuja, special buses were kept aside to convey athletes who needed to catch up with events far away from them.
“It will do a lot of good if special routes and special buses are provided for us.”