Work on Jamali grounds ahead of Games
The organisers of the Region 5 Youth games Gaborone 2018 are pacing behind time to ensure that construction at the Jamali grounds situated in Tlokweng are completed by the end of today (Wednesday). The Jamali grounds have been picked for the competition’s football games that will kick start on Thursday. However during the media tour of the competition venues this week, Sun Sports realised that construction was still ongoing at Jamali grounds. The men found on site were busy working on the stands and the field of play was also uneven, “We are working under pressure because we hear these grounds might be used during the games, however we are not sure if we will manage to pull it off by end of this week,” said one of the men spotted working on the stands. The man, dressed in green overalls, sweat dripping over his chin under the extreme scorching heat, said that it takes about two weeks to erect shades for each section of the stand and so far only three stands had shade. The entire stand on the western side was completely bare. The games Local Organising Committee chairperson Labbeus Peloewetse would later explain that the owner of the grounds insisted that there will be no shade on that particular area. Peloewetse said they have been busy at work and assured that all will be well before the games start. “I want to point out that the rolling out of the venues look and feel is still ongoing but I can assure you that it will be completed by Wednesday,” he said. Peloewetse handed over the nine competition and twelve training venues that will be used during the youth games to AUSC Region 5 Chief Executive Officer, Stanley Mutoya. For his part, Mutoya noted that he was impressed by what Botswana has done preparing for the games. He said he has no doubt that the country will deliver exceptionally well, saying the country has satisfied all the requirements ahead of the games. On the unfinished Jamali grounds, Mutoya noted that all that was left was to level the playing field saying they particularly prefer Jamali ground rather than the artificial turf in Lekidi (Botswana Football Association) for health reasons. “We even had COSAFA technical experts here and they have given green light that the facility can be used,” Mutoya said.