Bingu Stadium completed says government, a day after 30 November construction deadline
Barely a day after the deadline, the Ministry of Sports and Culture has confirmed that Bingu National Stadium (BNS) in Malawi’s capital Lilongwe, is technically completed and ready for use.
The stadium was earmarked for completion on November 30, 2015 and has been constructed in 30 months.
Spokesperson for the ministry, Chris Mbukwa, said the contractor has indicated that works have been finalised at the magnificent facility.
“Technically, the contractor has finalised the construction works and has since written to the government through the Building Department and the Ministry of Sport to carry out inspection,” Mbukwa said.
However, Mbukwa was elusive as to when the stadium would be handed over to government.
“Opening ceremony is yet to be scheduled considering that inspection by Building Department is yet to be undertaken. This work will take few days as it entails snagging which requires that technicians from the Building Department will have to examine each and every facility of the stadium to ensure there are no defects. The official hand-over will be communicated soon,” he added.
The BNS will be managed by the ministry, which is recruiting managers for the facility. Football, field and track events will be some the activities hosted at the stadium.
BNS is an Olympic-designed facility and it has components such as a synthetic running track, natural grass football pitch, CCTV, VIP lounge, shopping and exhibition rooms, press galleries, treatment rooms, and car park.
Once handed over to government, the stadium will be the new home for Malawi national football team after Kamuzu Stadium was condemned to be unfit to host international matches by Confederations of African Football (Caf) and Fifa.
Football Association of Malawi(Fam) general secretary, Sugzo Nyirenda, yesterday said the completion of the facility would be a good development, but refused to comment further, saying he would only do so after inspection.
The state-of –the-art structure is being constructed through a concessional loan from China to the tune of K30 billion ($70million) payable in 20 years with a grace period of seven years and an annual interest rate of two percent.
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