Repair work at PSB centre to start within a week

KARACHI: Member PSB executive committee Aqeel Karim Dhedhi, along with Olympian Samiullah, visited PSB-owned National Coaching Centre here on Friday to examine its dilapidated condition.

Talking to media after visiting the multipurpose sports complex, hostel rooms, indoor gymnasium and some other facilities, Dhehdi vowed to bring improvement in the centre's sports infrastructure within one week, without looking to the federal government for funds.

Dhedhi, a business tycoon, said that when heavy rains damaged the coaching centre, he visited the centre and saw the damage done to the centre, which included the broken front wall.

Dhedhi said that when he was included in the PSB executive committee he had made up his mind to bring in reforms through public-private partnerships, with the consultation of former greats of various sports.

He said that public-private partnership did not mean that they would generate money from the centre itself as it was not meant to earn profit.

Some disciplines such as boxing, athletics and badminton have been given to private groups for sponsoring at least for a year to start sports activities in the city for the budding players.

He said that this initiative was taken because the federal government had no funds to develop sports infrastructure or organise sports activities.

He said the wooden floor of the indoor gymnasium would be completely transformed as the decades old floor could not be repaired. He said that there were leakages in the roofs of the hostel rooms. He promised that repair work would start within a week.

He said that he could not give a date for the completion of the work but vowed to do his best to make it operational very soon.