As the committee continues to cover more ground with its national tour of parstatals that were cited in the AG’s report, it today made a stop at yet another feat that is highlited on their roadmap. The committee today, Saturday 21st May 2022 visited the infamous Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola. The stadium is managed by the National Sports Council hence its issues raising stirring the interest of the committee.
While here, the committee engaged with officials from the Ministry of Sports, National Sports Council representatives as well as the facility management team. During the interaction, the Facility management team made a presentation of which the content largely boardered on issues that were pinpointed in the AGs report.
The Auditor General’s report brought out issues to do with the lack of a council to govern the business activities of the stadium despite there being a council in existence. The committee is however cognisant of the fact that the Minister of sports has appointed a council to manage the stadium, the operational status of this council is what is yet to be established. The committee chair, Hon. Brian Kambita MP disclosed as he told Melo Media that as at the time of the AG’s report, the facility did not have a strategic plan handy, but during today’s visit one was availed and shared with the committee electronically and is yet to be read, reviewed and analyzed.
The committee also took a tour of the facility, where it learnt of some of the challenges that makes running of the facility a little less easier that what would be considered normal. The electricity crisis for example: the committee learnt that the facility has to pay huge monies to settle electricity bills as it has a huge capacity to feed just to run the different facilities at the stadium. Besides the Zasco source, the stadium also has a complementary source in the form of a genset. The lone genset can only power about half of the stadium so it still is not sufficient to completely surmount the challenge. The management is however in negotiations with Zesco for a possible preferential tariff consideration. There is need for investment in this regard.
The other challenge thay was discovered if that of the shortage of water. The facility currently does not have sufficient water to suffice for the needs at the pitch and domestic use in the other sectors of the building. It does not have its own source of water and to make that possible it needs about 6 commercial boreholes.
The facility also has issues in the Human Resource management sector. It turns out the people working at this facility were appointed as a taskforce and they are backed by different parastatals. This discrepancy brings about remuneration issues who’s ripple effect is a dumpening effect on the morale of the workers who feel disadvantaged by this.
The committee has since taken due note of all these issues and it will assuredly submit them to the executive for further action.
(c) Melo Media 2022
