Members of Parliament fear for sports facilities

Members of Parliament have expressed concern regarding how government manages some sports facilities in the country.

This was disclosed during a meeting involving Parliamentary Committee on Social and Community Affairs, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and Malawi National Council of Sports at Bingu National Stadium on Tuesday.

The concerns come after the government failed to take care of some sports infrastructure including BNS, Civo Stadium and Kamuzu Stadium.

Chairperson of Parliamentary Committee on Social and Community Affairs Savel Kafwafwa said there is a need to pay much attention to the facilities.

“Our concern was that there is no proper plan to take care of the facilities. The facilities always do not have enough resources for maintenance. We asked the Ministry to ensure that these facilities are taken care of,” Kafwafwa said.

Again, the concerns come just few weeks before BNS inspection ahead of Total Energies Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers against Egypt.

Kafwafwa said it was sad that BNS usually get in about K80 million annually for maintenance but the facility needs more than K200 million to be in good shape.

“BNS got a temporary approval when it hosted the Afcon qualifiers last year, so we went to check its condition. We are happy that management of BNS has done a good job and we hope it will pass the test,” he said.

According to Kafwafwa, facilities such as BNS need more members of staff to be in top shape.

He said the facility has been a victim of vandalism since it was constructed because it does not have enough personnel to take care of it.

Director of Sports in the Ministry of Youth and Sports Jameson Ndalama was not readily available for his comment yesterday.

Apart from the stadiums, government also owns the Griffin Saenda Sports Complex and the Aquatic Sports Complex at Kamuzu Institute for Sports which hosted Region 5 Youth Games.

Minister of Youth and Sports Richard Chimwendo Banda was not available yesterday.

However, Chimwendo in an earlier interview admitted that it will be a challenge to take care of all sports facilities.

Then, he said, government was planning to introduce a special directorate to look after them.

Sports analyst George Kaudza-Masina said the Parliamentarians should lobby for increased funding towards the facilities.

“What should be appreciated is that the MPs are the ones who approve budget but sports budget is always meagre, that cannot suffice maintenance thus the status of most sports facilities. Those managing the facilities are on record complaining about poor funding,” Kaudza-Masina said.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) is expected to inspect BNS next month.