Home | Sports | E1.3BN UPGRADE FOR SOMHLOLO

E1.3BN UPGRADE FOR SOMHLOLO

Font size: Decrease font Enlarge font

MBABANE – It will cost the country E1.3 billion to upgrade Somhlolo National Stadium to meet FIFA standards.


The country’s soccer Mecca will have a carrying a capacity of 25 000, top notch VIP suites and indoor sports facilities.
The Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs has already submitted specifications of the stadium to their Public Works and Transport counterparts for drawings and tendering processes.
The project, possibly the biggest in sports ever, is earmarked to begin any time in 2017 and with funds allowing, be completed in two years and just in time for the country’s 50/50 celebrations. 


The two ministries are working closely with that of Finance in this project. Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs David ‘Cruiser’ Ngcamphalala confirmed that the estimates for the stadium alone, without the indoor games facility, are at E1.3 billion. Ngcamphalala said his committee was advised to include the indoor games facility in the stadium specifications submitted and costs will shoot up with tendering processes involved.


“We are still to meet with the Stadium Committee on the new estimated costs but the initial projection was at E1.3 billion without the indoor games facility. We are closely looking at the cost involved with the other two ministries but the aim is to have work commencing in 2017 with funds, of course, allowing. Swaziland is the only country without a world class stadium and lagging behind fellow SADC nations like Lesotho and Botswana, Ngcamphalala said.   
Minister of Public Works and Transport Lindiwe Dlamini said the issue of Somhlolo National Stadium’s facelift was of urgency. She explained that her ministry was in the process of evaluating the specifications submitted and that a tender would be advertised soonest.


“Working with the Ministry of Finance, we will propose a grace period of non-payment from whoever will win the tender while the stadium is being built and pay after. It can be one of the country’s big five construction companies or an international entity but that will be discussed by the Tender Evaluation Committee. It is an urgent issue but we still have to go through all processes,” she said before asking that her Principal Secretary, Makhosini Mndawe, be called for more details.


Mndawe did not answer calls when several attempts were made to reach him yesterday. 
Somhlolo currently has 7 500 seats but can carry up to 15 000 people with the no-man’s land on the eastern end. The proposed facelift is set to hit the Premier League of Swaziland (PLS) hard as they will be deprived of one of their key playing venues when work finally gets underway. 

Comments (0 posted):

Post your comment comment

Please enter the code you see in the image: