Rehabilitation work at the Alarobia stadium, more specifically the repair of sports infrastructure, started on Wednesday.
Forty-eight days before the opening of the 11th edition of the 2023 JIOI in Madagascar, from August 25 to September 3, workers are busy renovating the Alarobia stadium which will house the sports disciplines of athletics. No less than thirty workers from the urban municipality of Antananarivo work together to remove the asphalt from the Alarobia track. The objective is to shave all the installations made ten years ago, before depositing a new casting on the new tartan track. A worker who wishes to remain anonymous explains “having received the order to remove the asphalt on the entire track. A company specializing in the laying of the tartan track will take over after our work, in order to prepare the pouring of the materials necessary to rehabilitate the tartan track. From everything I expected, all the necessary facilities on a track that has IAAF endorsement will be installed here and the work will be done within sixty days. The objective is to complete the work, at least fifteen days before the opening of the 2023 JIOI”, he confides. On the display placed in front of the entrance to the Alarobia track, the works relate to the renovation of the premises under the stands where the office of the Malagasy Athletics Federation sits, that of the sanitary blocks, that of the fence of the areas of games and launches, also of the enclosure, the painting of the bleachers and the layout of the photo finish.
Closed to the public
Since Tuesday, the Alarobia stadium has been closed to the public, only workers are allowed to access it. Asked about the work at the Alarobia stadium, the sports director of the urban municipality, whose anonymity he wishes to remain, refuses to comment on the nature of the work to be undertaken and the company holding the contract. He indicated that it is to the communication department of the Coji that one should ask for information on the work to be done. He simply underlined that it is the Games of the Indian Ocean Islands which are the subject of this work. As for the national technical director of the FMA, Hery Rambeloson, he says he is very satisfied with the work carried out at the Alarobia stadium. “We were not consulted on the work to be undertaken. As a technician, we would like our opinion to be taken into account. The important thing for us is that the work be completed as soon as possible so that our athletes can train there because the XIth edition of the Games of the Islands is already pointing its nose and our athletes need a period of time to find their brand. »