No light on stadium construction

There is no indication as to when the Omuthiya football stadium, which was expected to be completed by June this year, will be finished.
Information from various stakeholders, however, shows that the project will not be completed this year.
In December 2015, Namibia Football Association (NFA) president Frans Mbidi said Omuthiya would get a new football stadium with an artificial turf in 2016, which would be funded by the world football governing body, FIFA, to the tune of N$9 million.
Mbidi was quoted as saying the NFA wanted to finish the process as soon as possible and hand it over so that they could go ahead with another project by 2017.
He was also quoted as saying that matches of the Brave Warriors could take place at the stadium, as well as those of football clubs in the northern part of the country.
Yesterday Mbidi said NFA had done its part and the Omuthiya Town Council was busy with the land part.
“There are lot things but we have done what we had to do.
“We have done the first phase which included the feasibility studies and we are looking forward to the second phase which will be done by the Omuthiya Town Council,” he said.
Namibian Sun understands that a contractor was appointed for the project but no clear information has been made available as to who the contractor is.
According to the NFA’s Titus Kunamuene it is an international contractor appointed by FIFA.
“FIFA has already contracted the contractor and we are just waiting on them,” he said.
When asked about the progress of the project, Kunamuene said he did not know when the project would be completed. He said the NFA was waiting for a response from FIFA regarding the land lease agreement requested by the body as well as the contractor to start with the project.
The Omuthiya council’s local economic development officer, David Israel, confirmed that the lease agreement had been finalised but could not say when the agreement was signed and the amount involved.
Israel said the land was partly serviced. The water and sewerage networks were completed; the road earthwork is in progress and electricity still needs to be supplied.
“We know that the road earthworks will be completed in the next four months,” Israel said.
Israel said the electrification would take a minimum of four months, which means the project will be carried over to 2017 when the artificial turf might be laid by the international contractor.

KENYA KAMBOWE