TheCable

The federal government has commenced the installation of tracks at the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos state as part of moves to renew the facility.

According to the contractors handling rehabilitation of the tracks, the installation could be completed in four weeks.

Joseph Ayinla, a track technical specialist at the work site, said the tracks would be laid in stages.

“The first stage that we commenced last week is the Elastic layer (E-layer) stage which will be followed with the Sealant stage to make the tracks impermeable to water and other fluids. The third stage will be the coating stage,” he said.

“After all these have been done, a certified world athletics tracks marker will then do the markings. There will be an eight-lane running track and the strip for jumps, which is for long and triple jumps.”

The development comes after the federal ministry of youth and sports installed the digital scoreboard at the stadium.

The ministry, led by Sunday Dare, has also revamped the stadium’s football pitch through the public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement and the adopt-a-pitch initiative.

Commenting on the installation of tracks, Dare said: “Our Adopt-a-Pitch arrangement with Premier Lotto for the Lagos National Stadium covers the pitch, tracks and scoreboard while we are also making progress in sourcing funds to fix the terraces.”