At a time when the Federal Government of Nigeria is working round the clock to put more facilities in place for sporting activities to thrive in the country, sports equipment worth over N500 million is said to be lying fallow at the American International School in Lagos, no thanks to an alleged disagreement between the contracting firm and the school authority.Concerned by the development, the representative of Mondo Spa of Italy, Experience Sports Limited, which is saddled with the responsibility of laying the artificial turf of the school's sports complex, has appealed to the Presidency through the office of the Vice President, Namadi Sambo, to wade into the alleged disagreement so as to save the facilities from 'complete waste.'The Guardian learnt yesterday that construction of the project being handled by a foreign firm was almost at completion level, with all facilities needed for installation of the artificial turf already on ground at the Lekki main site of the college, when the disagreement between the two parties started.The facilities supplied by Mondo were said to have arrived the site since mid 2010. They include materials for the tartan track (same used at the London 2012 Olympics), artificial football turf, artificial turf for baseball, indoor sports hall plywood flooring and 220 square meters synthetic pathway flooring.Also lying fallow at the complex are various materials needed for the installation of the flooring of the indoor sports complex.In his appeal to the Vice President yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer of Experience Sports Limited, Martin Osaile, said he was worried that further delay in settling the disagreement between the two parties could lead to complete waste of the facilities.Osaile said that based on a recent on-the-sport assessment by a Mondo official, over 70 per cent of the facilities would be rendered useless if they were not installed in the next four months.He said: 'I want to tell you that 18,000 kilogrammes of synthetic glue worth about N65 million had been destroyed and thrown away because they have expired. Also the synthetic materials on the site may have been destroyed now because the construction firm stored them wrongly outside to the mercy of the sun and rain before the premises was locked up.'My appeal now is for the Vice President, whose office controls sports affairs in the country, to kindly assist in any way he deems fit to see that the issue is resolved for the facilities to be installed. I am sure that the facilities will be of great use to millions of Nigerian sports men and women by the time we complete the installations.'Efforts to speak with the Sports Director and other officials of the American School at the 1004 Estate in Lagos yesterday could not yield fruits with security officials at the gate saying: 'They are on a one-week break. Come back next week.
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