Glimmer of hope For sports projects

 Completion of additional work at the Griffin Saenda Indoor Netball Court and Aquatic Sports Complex is expected to resume in the next fiscal year.

President Lazarus Chakwera announced this yesterday in his State-of-the-Nation-Address (Sona) titled ‘Taking Stock And Advantage Of Our Progress In Achieving Economic Recovery And Resilience” in Parliament in Lilongwe.

China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation constructed the Aquatic Centre, but after hosting the Region Five Games in December 2022, architectural errors were discovered, which led to the closure of the facility.

The indoor court, on the other hand, was constructed for netball but after the Region Five Games, it was proposed that it should accommodate other codes such as basketball, squash and tennis.

Government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports initially requested K7 billion for the projects,

 but due to costs overruns the figure doubled to K15.7 billion, Ministry of Youth and Sports Principal Secretary Isaac Katopola told The Nation last month.

A delay on the part of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) to act on a request from the ministry for additional funding further stalled the project.

However, Chakwera in his Sona yesterday assured that the project will now commence.

He said: “We made 20 percent progress in the construction of Mzuzu Youth Centre, while construction of the Griffin Saenda and the National Aquatic Sports Facilities in Lilongwe will commence again in the coming financial year due to the

increase in the scope and cost of  the works to be completed.”

Director of sports Jameson Ndalama said they are excited that the work on Griffin Saenda and the Aquatic Centre will finally resume.

He said: “It is the ministry’s wish that the public should have access to international standard sports facilities. The public sampled these facilities during the Region Five Games.

“We were all proud to see Malawi hosting the Region Five Games at those facilities. Everyone saw how important it is to have such facilities. Now that the work will resume to complete the remaining parts, it is good news to all of us.”

Chakwera said government also plans to construct a new stadium in Mwanza to be completed in the coming fiscal year.

He also pointed out that government made strides in sports in 2023, citing the Scorchers’ winning of Cosafa Women Champions as a milestone.

Chakwera said: “Madam Speaker, in sports, our first point of celebration is in football, where the Malawi women’s national football team, the Scorchers, achieved an outstanding feat by winning the Cosafa Women’s Championship with a 100 percent record, having won all five matches.

“This is progress, and we must not only build on it, but also replicate the success factors in other disciplines and extend that mind-set to everything we do for the development of our youth.”

Upon their return from the Cosafa Championship, Chakwera hosted the Scorchers to a luncheon at the State House in Lilongwe to congratulate them for winning the regional competition to become the first senior national team to achieve this feat since 1988.

Chakwera also spolied each player with K1.5 million bonus and a 35 metres by 25 metres piece of land each in Area 45 near Likuni Roundabout for their feat

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