The AstroTurf facility, which is funded by the Jinapor family, is aimed at promoting unity and sportsmanship in the Buipe Traditional Area.
The MP for Yapei/Kosawgu, John Abdulai Jinapor, has commissioned an AstroTurf pitch in Buipe in the Central Gonja District of the Savannah Region on behalf of the Jinapor family.
In his remarks during the commissioning in Buipe on Friday 29 December 2023, Jinapor said that the facility, which is funded by the Jinapor family, is aimed at promoting unity and sportsmanship in the Buipe Traditional Area.
“First of all, let me express my profound gratitude to the Buipewura, my father, for his leadership qualities. Indeed, the Buipewura called a family meeting and appealed to his children that if we could help him to put up this AstroTurf, it will go along way to support his traditional area,” John Jinapor said.
“I also want to express my appreciation to Professor Ahmed Jinapor, the senior brother of the family, and also to my younger brother who’s a cabinet minister, Abu Jinapor, for his contribution and support, and all the Jinapor family as well as other families who supported in diverse ways.”
The MP also said a construction of a volleyball court will commence next week in addition to the AstroTurf.
The Northern regional president of the Ghana Football Association, Alhaji Abu Hassan Rhizo, thanked the Jinapor family for the facility and appealed for dressing rooms to complement the facility.
“For a pitch of this nature to be able to host a Division One league match, it also means that we should have dressing rooms and latrines,” he added.
He called on the community to take very good care of the facility to prolong its lifespan.
The new project makes up a total of four AstroTurf fields in the Savannah Region, together with the pitches in Salaga, Damongo and Larabanga.
The paramount chief of the Buipe Traditional Area, Buipewura Abdulai Jinapor II, after whom the pitch is named, and whose effort and contribution to his area brought about the construction of the pitch, was present to grace the occasion.
Reporting by Tahiru Abdul-Washiru in the Savannah Region