About four years ago, the government did what many people, especially those in the sporting fraternity, were eagerly waiting for.
The government took a bold decision to renovate some of the stadiums in the country and even build new ones.
Stadium developments were mainly meant to take advantage of the spinoffs of the 2010 World Cup that was held in South Africa. Unfortunately, the unexpected happened as some stadiums were never to be completed.
While the developments were meant to be preparations for the World Cup 2010 even to this day, more than two years later some facilities are still under construction. In other instances shoddy work and terrible workmanship were the order of the day on those deemed complete. The government built two new stadiums in Francistown and Lobatse, while the National Stadium was refurbished. The Francistown Stadium is yet to be completed and no plausible explanations have been forthcoming.
Lobatse Stadium, on the other hand, was completed and handed back to the government but was used for a short while before defects rendered it unusable and had to undergo some refurbishment, especially on the pitch.
The government refused to accept the commissioning of the National Stadium, saying the pitch does not meet required standards. The government has since instituted a technical commission of inquiry into the National Stadium pitch and promised to act on the recommendations.
The move by the government is a welcome one but the question is, why is it only applied to the National Stadium, excluding both Lobatse and Francistown Stadium that are currently not in use? As for the Serowe stadium the less is said the more headache and pain we save for all concerned.
Before Lobatse Stadium was handed to the government, there were reports that the pitch was in a bad state. Even teams that played there always complained, saying it had to be re-grassed.
Currently the pitch is being re-grassed at a cost to the company that previously did the job. By the look of things, the government should not have accepted the Lobatse Stadium in the first place because it did not even take months for defects to be detected.
This means someone did not do the job when the stadium was handed to the government. It is a noble idea for the company that did the job in the first place to take full responsibility to rectify the problem.
But just why did the company not meet the specifications in the first place?
Lobatse side Extension Gunners has a large following and is being forced to use smaller stadiums that are not even secure to cater for their supporters. That could be a tragedy in waiting.
Some supporters do not even bother attending if their teams are not playing in spacious stadiums. Just a few months ago, there was nearly a stampede at Molepolole Sports complex when two crowd pullers, Extension Gunners and Township Rollers locked horns. Fortunately, nobody died but scores of supporters sustained injuries.
This is proof enough that if the stadiums issue is not given the attention soon, it is only a matter of time before people die from stampedes.
Currently, there is a deafening silence from the progression of the multi-million Francistown Stadium. After failing to meet the deadline for the 2010 World Cup, it was decided that it would be complete by the end of December last year.
It has been 12 months since then and nothing is being said by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology. The Ministry should come out openly and tell the nation what is happening. Maybe they should also conduct investigations and make the report public to the nation.
As a sports person, President Ian Khama is always seen at several sporting activities. This means he should have first hand information on what is going on.
He should really crack the whip and get to the bottom of the problem. If stadium projects are delayed the way they are in the country, sports development fat grassroots is going to be severely affected.
This country needs to produce a lot of sporting heroes who will inspire young ones to take sports seriously. And time is not on our side.
That can only be achieved if there are sports facilities ready for use.
