Two of Pakistan’s best facilities are in poor condition |
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21-Jan-2012
THE NEWS
KARACHI: The condition of two swimming pools owned by Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) at its Sports Complex in Islamabad has remained poor for the past several years, sources told The News.
One of the two pools is an indoor facility. China developed these pools in 1984 according to international standards.
A group of national swimmers told The News that PSB’s top hierarchy was responsible for the devastation of the country’s best pools as the outdoor pool of the complex was dug up in the name of maintenance just after the first South Asian Swimming and Water Polo Championship in 2007 in which around 400 swimmers from across South Asia participated.
Pakistan Swimming Federation maintained the swimming pools at a cost of Rs500,000 for the event. National swimmers said that there was no need for further work at the pools after the event. But the PSB authorities got the tiles of the outdoor swimming pool. They allegedly spent a huge amount of public money, without achieving anything as the outdoor pool remains in that broken condition till date, the swimmers said.
The indoor pool is the only heated swimming pool in the country having all facilities to organise international level swimming events during winter months. It had been operational till 2010 and the swimming competitions of National Games were held there. There is no major fault but its roof is rusted due to incompetent, lethargic officials of PSB who did not understand that there is vast difference in between the indoor and out door swimming pools.
They could not develop an exhausting point for evaporating water. Sources said that due to chlorine and other chemicals in the pool water there was need to establish the exit hole to release the evaporation and humidity.
In the absence of an exit for evaporation, the roof of the indoor pool got rusted and a number of holes appeared in it. Now the pool is not operational.
Sources disclosed that an inquiry was also conducted into the poor condition of the two pools, but it produced no result and no action was taken against those involved in destroying the two pools, sources said. |
