BOKA moves closer to getting karate hall

MOSAH MOKGANEDI
Correspondent | Thursday February 18, 2010 00:00

 

The facility behind the National Stadium is expected to be complete in August. The Japanese government has donated P700,000 to finance the project which was scheduled to start last year but was delayed due to bureaucracy.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, the Japanese ambassador to Botswana, Ryoichi Matsuyama said they are relieved that construction has finally started after months of delay.

He said they funded the project because they realised that young people are doing well in karate and need the Dojo to enhance their performance.

He said karate has attractive features because it has a spiritual impact on players. He said financing the construction of the Dojo will strengthen the cultural cooperation between Botswana and Japan.

BOKA president Gift Nkwe said the building of the hall will bring them closer to realising their vision of leading Botswana towards sporting excellence and contributing to national development. He stated that they have challenges in preparing teams for international assignments because BOKA does not have its own sports hall. He said this means their preparation schedules are always dependent on the availability of such facilities from other institutions.

Nkwe thanked institutions that avail their facilities to BOKA and said they intend to work closely with them even after the Dojo is complete. If there were no initial delays, the hall was going to be ready next month, but the date has been moved to August.

Nkwe said it took too long to start construction because the Department of Town and Regional Planning did not approve the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) Master Plan for the land meant for the hall.

The BNSC chairperson, Daniel Tau commended the Botswana government for fostering relations with countries like Japan who are interested in the welfare of locals.

He praised Matsuyama and said during his brief stay in Botswana, he has done a lot for the country. He said the building of the facility will address the need for an indoor sports facility.