Sunday News
12 July 2010
By Mehluli Sibanda
THE Government will soon avail funds for the refurbishment of the Khumalo Hockey Stadium in Bulawayo, which will pave way for the country to host the African Olympic Hockey qualifiers next year.
Education, Sports and Culture Minister David Coltart said he had spoken to Finance Minister Tendai Biti who had agreed to release money to revamp Khumalo Hockey Stadium. The stadium’s turf has disintegrated to a stage where it is impossible to hold a full hockey match.
“I have spoken to the Finance Minister and he indicated to me that the funds would be released soon for the refurbishment of the Khumalo Hockey Stadium to enable the country to host the African Olympic qualifiers next year. So we expect the refurbishment to be complete by the end of this year,†he said. The education minister said a foreign donor has shown interest in rehabilitating Magamba Stadium in Harare. In terms of figures, Coltart said they were looking in the region of US$1 million as they had to replace the astro turf, fix the water system for both fields and sort out the floodlights.
In 2004, the Federation of International Hockey offered the Hockey Association of Zimbabwe a grant of US$50 000 to replace the astro turf at both Khumalo Stadium and Magamba Stadium in Harare but HAZ lost the allocation after failing to get Government support for the project. On the higher figure to be released by the Government, Coltart described the level of deterioration at Khumalo Stadium as “horrendous†and had been allowed to go unchecked over the years.
Built ahead of the 1995 All-Africa Games hosted by the country, the two stadiums were world class and were touted as some of the best hockey facilities in the world. After the disintegration of the astro turfs since 2003, the facilities had virtually become White Elephants. The two stadiums were built by the Ministry of Public Works who in turn handed them over to the Sport and Recreation Commission to run them on behalf of Government.