Stadium delay riles councillors

MOGOMOTSI BUZWANI
Correspondent | Wednesday June 23, 2010 00:00

 

The civic leaders did not have kind words for Tuwana Construction Company, which won the tender to construct the stadium.

Tuwana construction's resident engineer, Douglas Kamedza told councillors during a tour of the stadium on Monday that the facility is 85 percent complete. He said they failed to meet the deadline due to shortage of materials, among other reasons. 'We had shortage of materials and when construction was supposed to start, we encountered the problem of site establishment, thus we did not start on time. We also failed to get the necessary skilled labour needed for the project,' he explained.

Kamedza said the contractor cannot guarantee when the remaining work will be completed as they envisage further delays. 'I cannot state the time when we are going to complete the stadium because we have realised that there are misunderstandings between us and the workers due to language barrier. We do not understand one another when we try to communicate. One of the biggest problems we have is the construction of the grandstand shade. It will contribute to further delays although we are already four months behind schedule,' Kamedza said.

Boikhutso ward councillor, Robert Onkokame Mosweu, implored the contractor to ensure that the stadium is complete before the start of the be MOBILE Premier League season. He said the company had failed to meet the 2010 World Cup target.

'We hope you will hand over the project before the next season starts.  The reason why you do not get skilled labour you need is because you do not meet the Ministry of Labour requirements. You do not pay labourers according to the stipulated rates. I think it is one of the things that led to the delay in this project,' Mosweu said.

Councillors Ephraim Maiketso of Francistown Central and Michael Steven of Ipopeng shared Onkokame's sentiments.

'This is not good news and I am not happy with the reasons we got from the contractor. Some of the stadium structures are not well built. The contractor does not have skilled labourers because they do not pay rates prescribed by the labour department,' Maiketso said. However, construction manager Hao Shipeng said it will be impossible to complete the stadium before the Premier League season starts in August.

'I cannot promise that we will finish in August because there is a lot to do looking at the grandstand that is giving us a hard time. We have to plant the lawn which takes about 12 weeks before it is ready,' Shipeng said.