Lobatse Stadium to be completed in August

BOITUMELO KHUTSAFALO
Staff Writer | Tuesday July 13, 2010 00:00

 

The completion of the facility has been delayed and missed several deadlines. DBES principal public relations officer, Morwalela Kesalopa said only two components of the project, the stadium arena and the sports hall were scheduled to be handed over.

'The sports hall, the external works and the stadium arena are in an acceptable state and can be handed over for client beneficial occupation.

However, the pitch is not yet ready as the grass is not mature enough to be used for football games,' she said.She stated that the athletics track will be completed by July 30. 'The delays are due to failure in meeting the required levels for the asphalt layer which had to be re-done. The other remaining facilities are on schedule to be completed at the end of August,' she added.

Kesalopa said the contractor for the project has performed very well under the circumstances. She explained that the delays were due to the fact that the facility was initially designed by the Lobatse Town Council as a community project before being moved to central government and assigned to DBES in 2007.

'At the time, the design of the stadium arena was such that the grand stand was the only concrete frame structure and the rest of the stands were earth embankment with granite seating like the ones provided for Molepolole and Maun stadia,' she said. The estimated cost of the project was initially P85 million but this has shot to P139 million and the current P194 million.

Kesalopa said the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture decided through the Department of Sports and Recreation to align the project to its requirements of providing sports facilities that meet international standards. This will make the facility fit to host IAAF, CAF, FIFA and other international sporting events.

'These could only be achieved through a new design approach and DBES took the necessary steps and redesigned the facility accordingly. The re-design was done when the contractor was already on site and redesigning increased the complexity of the construction method,' she explained. She pointed out that the redesign increased the scope of the work by 40 percent while the cost went up from the tendered P139 million to the current P194 million.

She added that the instruction to change the scope of the work and the construction method was authorised by government through DBES and the costs were covered in accordance with the contract.

The stadium's official opening failed to take place last week when Mozambican President Amando Guebuza who was the guest of honour could not be at the function due to a tight schedule.

With the National Stadium still incomplete, the Lobatse Stadium was expected to host Zebras matches but at the moment, only the UB Stadium is available.