24 Apr 2013

The process of relaying the national stadium turf is on schedule, Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture, Shaw Kgathi has said.

Kgathi said in an interview at the tour of the facility on April 23 that everything was going according to schedule and that the construction team follows budget and targets June deadline.

He also expressed confidence on the company engaged in undertaken given its previous works in the construction industry.

“This is a special piece of work that needs specialists with experience in construction of similar facilities and given the constructor’s CV they have done greatly in this kind of work,” he said.

He added that there was no way the Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology could have accepted an undone stadium which did not comply with specifications.

Kgathi said the sporting fraternity has been frustrated in the absence of the national stadium where some clubs lost revenue owing to hosting their activities at low capacity stadia like UB and Molepolole.

Nonetheless, the Minister was also optimistic that the facility will be complete in time to host the 2014 Africa Youth Games in May where he said they expected local young athletes to perform well and earn more gold medals.

The project director, Lance Vel Westheujen said he was working with a professional team and were assisted by all stakeholders.

“This is a project where everybody is striving to get same results which are a stadium that is of good standard,” he said.

While they used local material, he added that they also sourced some of the components used in the construction from South Africa, particularly the irrigation system.

“The problem with the previous pitch was drainage and we have put in drainage line every four metres to ensure that the problem does not recur,” he highlighted.

Further, Vel Westheujen said they had tested different kinds of sand in different areas and found the suitable one in Mahalapye which they were currently using.

He explained that the soil will be used to level the pitch before laying the turf to ensure that water did not flow in one direction. ENDS