Govt gives NSS renovations timeline National Sports Stadium

Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter

GOVERNEMNT has given a timeline in which it intends to address the 17 key areas flagged by the Confederation of African Football at the National Sports Stadium.

Acting permanent secretary in the ministry of Local Government and Public Works, Joshua Mhakayakora, said they had set themselves a timeline for each of the areas highlighted in the CAF report.

Mhakayakora was giving oral evidence before a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Youth, Arts, Sport and Recreation chaired by Mathias Tongofa yesterday.

The renovations at the giant stadium have already started.

“The idea is to enable the stadium to be in a position to host the next international football match between Zimbabwe and Algeria,’’ said Tongofa.

“We need a lot of money to fully upgrade the stadium but, at the moment, we are working on set time-lines to make sure all the work is finished in the next two weeks.’’

Besides the playing surface, CAF condemned the doping rooms, media tribunes and mixed zone areas and Government gave the renovation time-lines as:

1: Pitch: 14 days (work started 3 March)

2: Floodlights: 6 days (work commenced 3 March)

3: Teams and official dressing rooms: 12 days (procurement in progress)

4: First aid and medical treatment rooms: 13 days (Ministry of Health and Child Care being engaged)

5: Stretcher Carriers: (Same with First Aid)

6: Doping Control Room: 12-13 days (fabrication of burglar bars and procurement in progress)

7: First Aid facilities for spectators: 13 days (Ministry of Health and Child Care as well as Re Cross being engaged

8: Spectators with disabilities: 14 days (Procurement underway)

9: Media Centre: 1 day (Procurement underway)

10: Media Tribune: 10 days (Procurement underway)

11: Press Conference Room: 12 days (Procurement underway)

12: Mixed Zone Area: 7 days (Barriers procurement underway)

13: Photographers’ area: 10 days (Procurement of equipment underway)

14: Camera: 2 days (Measurements done, results will be availed today)

15: Signage: 14 days (Signage approved)

16: TV Network: 15 days

17: Wi-Fi: 14 days (Procurement in progress, service providers engaged)

Meanwhile, ZIFA did not appear before Parliament yesterday, as the nation continues to try and find a solution to the stadium crisis, with the association saying they were busy dealing with the Warriors’ upcoming assignments.

The country’s football governing body had been expected to appear before the Portfolio Committee on Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation where they were supposed to provide oral evidence on how the country’s stadiums were banned from staging international matches by CAF.

However, the association did not show up to discuss the issue with the Mathias Tongofa-chaired Committee.

The Committee wrote to ZIFA on February 28 inviting them to come and provide evidence but ZIFA officials were not available by the time the legislators sat, forcing proceedings to be adjourned.

ZIFA had written a letter asking to be excused because they said they were busy organising the Warriors’ upcoming AFCON matches against Algeria later this month.

The Sport and Recreation Commission, who were also summoned to appear before the same due to the position they occupy in the sports sector, denied playing a role in ZIFA’s absence.

The commission’s director general, Prince Mupazviriwo, said his commission had received their own letter separately.

“We received our own letter to come before this committee and we don’t know what happened to ZIFA since I suppose they also received theirs,” said Mupazviriwo.

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