Botswana urged to expedite signing games agreement
Calistus Kolantsho | Thursday January 26, 2017 14:58
The Minister of Youth Empowermemt, Sport and Culture, Thapelo Olopeng is expected to sign the agreement in Gaborone next week.
AUSC Region V projects and marketing manager, Siyabonga Sangweni told Mmegi Sport yesterday that they had proposed February 3, 2017 as the date to sign the agreement.
Sangweni said they were still waiting for confirmation from the ministry as to when they would sign.
“We expected them to sign the agreement as soon as possible. If they take long to sign the agreement, it might cripple them,” he said.
Sangweni said it was important for the process to be fast-tracked as there is a lot of work that needs to be done. He said after the agreement is concluded, a Local Organising Committee (LOC) would be constituted.
Botswana National Sport Commission chief executive officer, Falcon Sedimo said he was not aware when the agreement would be signed. He said the agreement is between governments, signed by ministers and in this case Olopeng would be signing for Botswana.
Regarding the budget for the games, Sangweni said he was not aware how much Botswana would be looking at.
“If the country wants a five-star event, then the budget should be five-star. You must realise that the most important aspect of the games is the legacy that they leave for the host country,” he said.
Sangweni said Botswana does not need infrastructure development, which means most of the budget would be going towards operational costs.
“In Zambia in 2012 and Zimbabwe in 2014, new international standard swimming pools were built in both countries. In Angola 2016, a new athletics track was layered at Coqueiros Stadium as a direct investment by the government,” Sangweni said.
He said the benefits of hosting the games for a country are straight forward and immediate. Sangweni said AUSC Region V games brings together about 2,000 athletes and technical officials during pre-planning, competition and post-competition for debriefing and closure of the games.
The seventh edition of the AUSC Region V Under-20 Youth Games were held in Luanda, Angola last year. The games are one of the major regional sporting events. It involves seven different sporting codes competitions among 10-member states in the region.