Engineers urge stadium renovations
The Malawi Institute of Engineers (MIE) has welcomed the return of Flames action at the Kamuzu Stadium, but urged Malawi government to urgently renovate the suspect terraces.
MIE president Dr Matthews Mtumbuka made the call in welcoming Fifa’s endorsement of the giant arena to host the remaining Flames World Cup qualifiers against Namibia and Kenya on June 5 and 12 2013 respectively.
“[It] should be safe since they cordoned off the compromised stands. Good for everybody. But government now still needs to work on the other stands to strengthen them so that the whole stadium can be used some time within this year if possible,” said Mtumbuka.
MIE has been following the stadium issue closely after earlier arguments on whether it can host international games. Sports Minister Enoch Chihana recently said the renovations would start soon.
The Flames temporarily relocated to Civo Stadium. But with Kamuzu Stadium hosting high-profile domestic league matches, Mtumbuka earlier argued that even a Flames match can be played there.
“FAM will only print 17 000 tickets for the two matches. It goes without saying that FAM will adhere to the security plan that has been drafted by the Malawi Police Service and we will ensure that the plan is strictly implemented,” FAM said in a statement issued on Monday.
