Patricia Maganu
25 August 2009
The company constructing the new Francistown Stadium hopes to complete the job as scheduled in January after getting the green-light to import skilled labour from China. The Qingjian Group has been experiencing delays in the project because of a shortage of skilled manpower but this is set to change.
The Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture, Gladys Kokorwe said recently that the government has accepted a request from the company to bring skilled workers from China to speed up the construction of the stadium.
The project's resident engineer, Douglas Mukedza said though the contractor is still experiencing skilled manpower shortages, they expect the situation to improve after the impending arrival of expatriates from China.
Mukedza was speaking during a tour of the facility by representatives from the Office of the President, Ministry of Sport, Youth and Culture and journalists. The Office of the President organised the tour.
"We are expecting about 81 professionals at the end of the month who will help speed up the completion of the project," he said. Mukedza said the Qingjian Group is making all efforts to bring the skilled labourers in order to complete the project on time.
The project is 50 percent complete and is supposed to be handed to the government in January 2010. Mukedza said they hope to meet the deadline.Qingjian Group had complained to the government about the labour laws which barred them from importing workers from China to help in the construction of the stadium. But the situation has changed after the intervention of Kokorwe. A technical manager from the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, Keitsile Kutoro said that the ministry has been trying to resolve problems that might hinder contractors from completing projects in time.
"The ministries have gone out of their way to make those professionals available so the project can be completed at the estimated time," said Kutoro.
He added that the contractors understand that when they undertake a project, it is their responsibility to do everything possible to complete it on time. He said the ministry assists because the project belongs to the government.
"When the Ministry of Works awards a contractor a job, it is with the understanding that it is their responsibility but as the concerned ministry, we are just assisting. This is our project and we want to assist wherever possible."
Kutoro added that they wanted to make sure that the stadium is ready by 2010. The completion date has been extended by 23 days.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Mmegi/The Reporter. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
