Government ponders Bingu Stadium privatisation
Ministry of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development is considering the possibility of privatising Bingu National Stadium (BNS) which is struggling financially.
The Minister of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development Francis Kasaila yesterday said privatisation is one of the options being pursued as they seek to find a way of bailing out the multi-billion kwacha facility which has seen it struggling to pay bills.
“It is true that we have challenges managing the stadium, but we did write our colleagues in the Ministry of Finance to assist with resources to enable us meet the services that are required.
“But for long-term plans, we believe that either the stadium stands as a Treasury part so that out of the resources that it generates, it should be able to fend for itself or we should allow private entities to manage it since it has a lot of capacity to generate more revenue.
“These are the aspects that are being considered and we are discussing with Treasury because they are responsible for funding. [But] at this point it is difficult to say which way we are going to take because we need to convince the other stakeholders, in this case Treasury and the OPC [Office of the President and Cabinet],” he said.
Treasury spokesperson Davis Sado yesterday confirmed that the Ministry of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development made several proposals on how the facility’s financial situation can be improved.
“And we are now evaluating and assessing on how the facility can be sustained and then we will come up with a common understanding.
“We want to come up with a long-lasting solution to avert the problem,” he said.
Recently, Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) disconnected the facility for an outstanding bill of over K22 million.
BNS, which hosts high-profile sports games and other activities, deposits the proceeds like its share from gate collections and booking fees to government’s main account number one.
Treasury gives BNS about K3 million every month for its operations, which according to management, is not enough to meet water and electricity bills which total over K8 million every month. n
