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Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter
CONSTRUCTION of state-of-the-art two-storey changing rooms at Rufaro has been suspended as Harare City Council have again downsized their workforce due to the Covid-19 cases.

The council received a huge boost from former City of Harare councillor, Beadle Musa Gwasira, and his colleagues, who donated building material worth $400 000 towards the construction of Rufaro’s new changing rooms.

Construction work had tentatively been scheduled to start soon after the building material was delivered.

But, exactly three weeks after delivery of the full consignment of building material — including 10 000 bricks, 100 bags of cement, three-quarter stones, river and pit sand — nothing has moved.

Council spokesperson, Michael Chideme, said work had been affected by the need for caution, in the raging Covid-19 storm, currently sweeping the country.

“As we speak, we would have covered a lot of ground as far as the construction of those changing rooms at Rufaro is concerned,’’ he said.

“But, we will have to do that later as we have had to downsize our workforce in the face of Covid-19.

“Look, the country has seen a sharp rise in the number of Covid-19 cases. As a precaution, we have decided to scale down the number of workers at the ground.

“It is the Harare City Council’s wish to renovate the stadiums swiftly, as the facilities are not just recreational areas but their outlook is important, as far as the image of the city is concerned.

“But, here we are. Covid-19 is real and the rate at which it is spreading is something else and we have had to consider that and work with minimal staff on the ground.’’

He said renovations at Gwanzura have also been affected.

“The renovations of both Rufaro and Gwanzura have been affected by this,’’ said Chideme.

“But, it’s not like we have stopped work altogether but, the progress will be a bit slower. “It is our wish, as a council, to upgrade our venues to world standards but we should be careful in our approach now that the Covid-19 pandemic is upon us.”

The dilapidated changing rooms at Rufaro have continuously been condemned by CAF and ZIFA inspectors.

The new changing rooms will be situated more than 50 metres from the pitch, inside the outside car park, behind the western grand stand.

When The Herald visited the stadium yesterday, there were some few groundsmen working on the turf, which appears in better shape.