The Athletic Stadium at Bambolim has been used for barely three events post Lusofonia Games
Photo Credits: Did the Lusofonia games leave behind white elephants?
The Lusofonia Games 2014 helped Goa get a total of three new stadiums namely Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium (Bambolim), the Athletics Stadium (Bambolim) and the Multipurpose Stadium (Peddem, Mapusa), while a few existing venues were upgraded and refurbished.
The government invested several crores on the venues built for the Lusofonia Games of which most are still lying dormant. It is known that mega sporting events require short-term and exceptionally large investments to be incurred in terms of infrastructure.
These costly stadiums become white elephants structures that not only put a financial strain on cities but also become useless after the event and hence begin to be utilized for other non-sporting
activities or lay dormant.
QUOTE
“In the years to come, the infrastructure created will become white elephants for the government. Lusofonia infrastructure has a three year defect liability and in spite of this, the govt has already spent approximately Rs 2.27 cr on expenses to maintain them. One can imagine the additional cost they may have to incur after the defect liability period is over,”
Rohan Khaunte, MLA Porvorim constituency
ANDREA FERNANDES
PANAJI
Mega sporting events are often seen as a way to boost economic growth, enthusiasm among locals and give a city world class infrastructure but facts show that in the wake of these events, cities are plagued with high costs.
After the event is over the city is left with nothing but decaying sporting infrastructure. The question is what can be done to avoid the burden of these expensive and rather often unnecessary facilities?
The Lusofonia Games 2014 helped Goa get a total of three new stadiums namely Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium (Bambolim), the Athletics Stadium (Bambolim) and the Multipurpose Stadium (Peddem, Mapusa), while a few existing venues were upgraded and refurbished.
The approximate cost incurred for the building of venues for the Lusofonia Games in 2014 was Rs 326 crore.
“In the years to come, the infrastructure created will become white elephants for the government. Lusofonia infrastructure has a three year defect liability and in spite of this, the govt has already spent approximately Rs 2.27 cr on expenses to maintain them. One can imagine the additional cost they may have to incur after the defect liability period is over,” explained Rohan Khaunte, MLA Porvorim constituency.
The Government invested several crores on the venues built for the Lusofonia Games out which most are lying dormant. It is known that mega sporting events require short-term and exceptionally large investments to be incurred in terms of infrastructure. These costly stadiums become white elephants structures that not only put a financial strain on cities but also become useless after the event and hence begin to be used for other non-sporting activities or lay dormant.
“Peddem has a room where there was a canteen but is now lying vacant and being used as a dressing room by some groundsmen. There is no canteen at Campal or Peddem which can be given to deserving sport personalities. If some effort is taken by the government, stadiums can be given on lease to private companies e.g Reliance for basketball, Jindal Steel Ltd and even for the Pro Leagues e.g Kabaddi, Wrestling and Boxing,” opined Lenny Da Gama, vice president of Goa Boxing Association.
“For now, to save money, Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) and Goa Football Development Council (GFDC) which are using a number of floors at the Patto premises could move into one of the stadiums which would in turn save tons of money,” added Lenny.
Avoiding white elephants seems unlikely in the immediate future, especially as developing economies continue to view mega sporting events as a mechanism for growth. Countries and international sport associations must work together with local organisations to plan the usage of these stadiums beyond the event and avoid the white elephant phenomenon by either re-purposing stadiums or by re-conceptualisation these mega events.
It is vital that countries plan for both the short and long term before submitting their bids to host mega sporting events. This is probably the only way we can avoid having the existence of white elephants around us.
BOX
October 9-11, 2014 3 Technical Training Regiment Signal /Durand Cup curtain raiser (Rs 60,000)
December 5- 7, 2014 /ONGC/ PSPB athletic meet 2014 (Rs 2,00,000)
January 24, 2015 / Sharda Mandir School Sports Day (Rs 25,000)
