The Sunday News
SPORT and Recreation Minister Makhosini Hlongwane has raised concern over shoddy construction work done at several facilities that played host to last year’s African Union Sports Council Region Five under-20 Youth Games that were held in Bulawayo.
Minister Hlongwane said after touring the facilities last week he noted several defects at some of the venues and was disappointed with the quality of work done on the renovations despite the huge costs.
In a statement yesterday, Minister Hlongwane said there was a need for the Government to hold a value for money audit as the country had invested a lot of money in the infrastructure.
“The Minister of Sport and Recreation is disappointed with the quality of the work which he feels strongly that a better job could have been done. The Minister feels that there is a need for a value for money audit with particular focus on Government’s investment into the infrastructure for the Games,” read part of the statement.
Government spent $18 million in renovating the venues for the Games although $6 million was still outstanding.
During his tour of the facilities last week, Minister Hlongwane visited Hillside Teachers’ College, White City Stadium, Barbourfields Stadium and the Bulawayo Municipal Swimming Pool.
The statement, issued by the principal director in the ministry of Sports Benson Dube, revealed the Minister noted several flaws that include the leaking Bulawayo Pool, failure of completion of the White City practice track and cracking of the netball courts.
The Bulawayo Pool is the worst affected by the shoddy construction work that has resulted in the closure of the pool. The pool was renovated by Straightlink Construction.
Hlongwane noted that both the main pool and the practice pool were leaking, while the swimming pool pumps were not functional resulting in the water turning green. The Minister noticed poor and dangerous workmanship on the ramp for the disabled, the change rooms and toilets while the electronic score board was disintegrating because the installation was not completed.
The Minister said he was worried that only 100m of the tartan track at White City was laid properly and the remaining 300m need to be redone to meet International Athletics Association Federation standards (IAAF) as this will enable athletes to benefit fully from the track in terms of certifying their times. He said the design of the media booth was not user friendly to journalists as it did not give commentators full view of the track and field while changing rooms were not up to standard with wall paint peeling off. The practice track was not completed after contractors failed to meet the Games kick off date and construction was stopped and never resumed.
“The netball courts at White City have started to crack and weeds are growing in some of the courts indicating the poor quality of the works while change rooms for courts have also started cracking,” said Hlongwane.
There have been several complaints over the renovations done for the Youth Games with questions being raised on why some of the facilities such as the electronic scoreboards at Barbourfields and Luveve Stadiums are not functioning while a generator installed at BF is also not in use.
