By Thandiwe Moyo:
Mchinji District Council (DC) has assured citizens that construction of Mchinji stadium was set to commence before March, 2023.
The assurance comes after concerned citizens marched to Mchinji DC offices to express their grievances overdelays in construction of the stadium
Director of Public Works for the Council, Elias Tembo said there were a number of factors that contributed to the project’s delay.
“We advertised and many contractors showed interest. This means that there were a lot of documents to evaluate to make sure we partnered with the right contractors and all this could not have been done in a short period,” he explained.
Tembo assured the people that all procedures were followed such that the procurement committee met and discussed.
The Director indicated they are now waiting for an approval from the World Bank so that contractors could begin their work.
Speaking on behalf of the concerned citizens, Businessman, James Chidza expressed concern that the project has been on the cards for a long time but so far nothing has been done.
“We were told that the stadium construction project would commence in July last year which was later shifted to October and then again movedto December. We waited but nothing has been done yet. That is why we wanted to find out what is causing the delays,” he said.
Chidza said that the concerned group would hold their peace during the period they have been promised to see the construction of the stadium kickoff, failing which they would consider other undisclosed options.
Mchinji Stadium project was allocated about K43 million which will be used in the construction of toilets, changing rooms, a fence and a borehole among other things.
