24 Mar 2014

Parliament has been informed that at the time when construction of the Francistown stadium commenced in March 2008, it was expected that construction will be completed in January 6, 2010.

Minister of Infrastructure, Science and Technology, Mr Johnnie Swartz said, however, the date was later revised to February 12, 2010 on account of poor design by the consultants, some who were terminated as well.

He said his ministry eventually terminated the contract with Tuwana Construction in June 2012 due to poor performance. Minister Swart indicated that the original contract amount for the project was P174 826 691.06 and this amount was to be used for construction of the facility only.

He said when the contract with Tuwana Construction was terminated in June 2012, the amount of P158 397 551.56 had already been disbursed to the contractor and represented a fair evaluation of the value of the work that the contractor had done.

The minister further told the house that at the time of the termination of the contract, the amount remaining on the contract was only P16 428 956.80, but it had now been estimated that approximately P72 million would be required to complete the stadium.

“It is worth noting that the estimated completion cost of the stadium include cost of rectifying both design deficiencies and poor workmanship,” he said.

Minister Swartz said his ministry is currently in the process of procuring completion contractors which would be concluded by the end of April 2014, adding that his ministry has cashed the contractor’s performance bond of around P17 million as well as withholding retention amount of around P7 million which would be used to offset costs incurred during completion of the project, and this however has to follow the provisions of the contract.

MP for Francistown West, Dr Habaudi Hubona had asked the minister to state the initial completion date for the Francistown Stadium as at the time construction commenced as well as the revised expected completion date.

Dr Hubona also wanted to know the amount that was budgeted for the construction of the stadium and the total amount disbursed to the contractor to date as well as the estimated amount needed for completion of the stadium. Ends