Sunday News
10 October 2010
Senior Sports Reporter
THE revamping of Khumalo Hockey Stadium is set to start soon after the release of US$1 million for the project by the government.
Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart, said the money was now in the hands of his Ministry and the Ministry of Public Works will soon flight tenders for the supply of the turf and repair of the structure.
Coltart and officials from the Ministry of Public Works, Hockey Association of Zimbabwe represented by president Farai Kanyangarara, treasurer Gavin Stephens and the SRC had the first side meeting at the stadium last Thursday.
“There has been lots of progress, we had our first site meeting last Thursday, the whole process has to be fast tracked so make sure the stadium is ready early next year,†said Coltart.
According to the Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister, the artificial turf for the both the A and B field will come at an estimated cost of US$600 000. Other areas of the facility that need attention are the flood lights, water pumping system, the roof which has some part of it blown away by the wind and the public address system which has been vandalised.
Coltart added that the artificial turf at the stadium which has become an eyesore will soon be removed.
The refurbishment of Khumalo Hockey Stadium will facilitate the hosting by Zimbabwe of the 2012 London Olympics Africa Hockey Qualifiers next year.
Coltart said two foreign governments have shown interest in providing funding for the renovation of Magamba Hockey Stadium in Harare.
Built by the Ministry of Public Works and handed over to the SRC ahead of the 1995 All Africa Games hosted by Zimbabwe, both Khumalo and Magamba were world class facilities and some of the best hockey facilities in the continent. Neglect and the disintegration of the turf have led to the stadiums being unusable.
The revamping of Khumalo Hockey Stadium will come as a huge relief to hockey enthusiasts in Zimbabwe as the sport had returned to grass.