Council gives HAM K6m for stadium project

Malawi Government, through Sports Council, has given Hockey Association of Malawi (HAM) K6 million (about $15 000) additional funding bringing the total annual funding to K8 million (about $20 000).

Sports Council has made the donation to facilitate the construction of the hockey stadium at the Kamuzu Upper Stadium in Blantyre.

According to Sports Council executive secretary George Jana, they will be allocating more funding to the project depending on the progress.

“Although we are aware the K6 million is just a drop in the ocean for this ambitious project, we feel the money will go a long way to help HAM on the project.

“We want to empower them so that they can avoid the embarrassment and the high costs of hiring pitches for training sessions and games,” Jana said.

HAM administration manager Benjamin Chaura said the money will be used to finish the erection of the perimeter brick fence around the site and finalise the leveling of the pitch with black soil in readiness for the planting of grass.

He said so far they have spent K6 million on the wall fence and the pitch and they need about K8 million to complete the phase.

“This means that now we remain with a deficit of K2 million to complete this initial phase of the stadium construction. We are grateful to the council for this timely support and we would appreciate more help from the well-wishers,” Chaura said.

The entire project, which includes constructing stands, was estimated at K100 million (about $250 000) in the 2009 budget but the cost is likely to go up due to the high cost of construction materials.