Stadium upgrade to gobble K470bn
By Maimbolwa Mulikelela and Yvonne Sakala
THE Government has signed a US$94 million (about K470 billion) contract with a Chinese firm for upgrading of the Lusaka’s Independence Stadium and increase the sitting capacity to 50,000.
Works and Supply Minister Mike Mulongoti said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that the contract was signed on Friday July 23 and the contractor Shanghai (Group) Construction Company was expected to commence the reconstruction of Independence Stadium by next week.
Mulongoti said the funds for the project were made available through a concessional loan by the Chinese government.
Under the deal, the contractor is expected to work on the grand stand and VIP area which have since been demolished and increase its sitting capacity.
“The Government is committed to develop sport infrastructure that will support the growth of sport activities in the country,” Mulongoti said.
Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA) awarded Shanghai Group the Independence Stadium contract last week which was recently declared unfit by the World Football governing body, FIFA.
After being declared not suitable for international games, the Zambia soccer team play its matches at Konkola Stadium in Chililabombwe.
The signing of the contract will see the team bouncing back at the 46-year-old stadium.
And Mulongoti said the construction works on the 40,100 seater Ndola stadium that gobbled K350 billion were on course while construction of the Livingstone Stadium would start once the Government put the project on its priority list.
He said it was important for the Government to concentrate on the two stadia before embarking on the Livingstone Stadium.
Meanwhile, the new look Arthur Davies Stadium that has been equipped with a state-of-the-art electronic scoreboard would be officially recommissioned tomorrow after guzzling close to K4 billion in renovations.
Arthur Davies Stadium, home to the Copperbelt Energy Company (CEC) sponsored Power Dynamos, has been undergoing major renovations since it was shut early last year and was only reopened this year.
CEC executive chairperson Hanson Sindowe said the recommissioning of the stadium would precede a mouth-watering clash between Power Dynamos and bitter rivals Kabwe Warriors.
After refurbishment, Arthur Davies became the only stadium in Zambia to have plastic seats across the grand stand and VIP area and has an eye-catching coaching bench covers.
But the biggest prize at the stadium is the electronic scoreboard, with the ability to show live matches and replays as seen on television, the first of its kind in Zambia.
The CEC initially had budgeted $550,000 for the repairs to the infrastructure that included the club house, lavatories, VIP Room, Coach’s office, referees’ and players’ change rooms.
The project was scheduled for completion in November last year but the programme spilled over to this year due to a number of works that needed to be completed.
