Francistown Stadium project stalls

The completion of the national stadium renovation works recently gave the people of Francistown hope that the stadium in their city would also be handed over for use very soon.

But not according to the infrastructure minister Johnny Swartz. In fact, the minister does not even want to be drawn into estimating the time the project would be completed and handed over for use. Here is a multi-use facility that has been under construction for years now, with an initial completion date of 2009 postponed first to April 2010, then to March 2011 with the last hope for completion set for December 2012.

Nothing has been heard since, except for talk about the project being lined up for a new contractor. Swartz confirmed to BG Sport this week that indeed a new contractor will take over the work at the eagerly-awaited project. What also came out clear in the interview with Swartz is that such a contractor is yet to be identified, a result of which any hope of the stadium being completed within the next twelve months remains a pipedream. As early as May this year, BG Sport learns, tenders were issued for a new contractor to go and complete the project, and according to minister Swartz, the tender will finally be awarded in November this year.  Asked when the nation can expect the stadium to be complete, the minister would only say: “Ask me in November after the awarding of the tender. I don’t want to make empty promises, but I am confident that it will be completed in the near future.” 

It is a complex matter that has since left the Francistown dwellers frustrated. Looking at the construction site from the Nata-Francistown road, the place looks lonely, forlorn and deserted. It is a lifeless structure dotted on the forefront by what appears to be abandoned machinery. While the naked eye largely sees a complete stadium ready for use, those closer to the project suggest that the splendour that the eye sees is actually a structural disaster waiting to happen. In fact, information reaching this publication from some quarters of the government enclave suggests that the new contractor will practically redo some works as some completed sections, including the VIP areas and change rooms, are infested with structural defects. So serious are the anomalies that in their brief, the project overseers at the government enclave have decided that some completed structures be brought down altogether so that the new contractor starts on a clean slate.

For now, nobody wants the associated figures revealed – it would be inadvisable given that the tendering process is yet to be completed, they argue. Yet millions of pula have already been spent and lost on the 27 000 seater facility. More millions will be spent to reconstruct where there are already standing structures. The initial budget for the project that began in 2008 was P175 million but after detection of defects, government needed additional P60 million to complete it. A source from within the infrastructure ministry is adamant that the stadium will not be ready for close to another year from now, his argument being that the amount of work to be done will take no less than eight months from commencement. What comes out clearly is that the poor workmanship by the now expelled Chinese company called Tuwana Construction was shoddy and substandard, forcing government to terminate their contract last year.

Consultants on the project have also been blamed for the delay as they kept bringing in new designs when work had long commenced. The ministry also failed to do enough monitoring that could have averted the resultant hiccups.