The Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture and Tutume District Council have resolved issues that affected the progress of the Tutume Makwala Stadium project and both contractors have since resumed works, with completion of phase one expected before of June this year.
The completion of the phase one of the project which comprises boundary wall, ticket boosts, dressing rooms and ablution blocks would enable the ministry and council to progress to phase two of the project. This was said by the Minister of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture Tumiso Rakgare when responding to a question in parliament recently.
Nkange Member of Parliament Dr Never Tshabang had asked the minister to update parliament on progress made on the Tutume Makwala Stadium. Tshabang wanted to know if the minister is aware that there are delays and if he is aware that the material used is substandard.
Rakgare said his ministry was aware of the delays in the on-going Tutume community sport facility project and the delay of the project commencement from its onset was caused by community disagreements arising from the site location.
He stated that the issue has been resolved and the actual commencement of construction was November 18, 2021 with phase one. According to Rakgare, the works were awarded to some two companies and the two contractors were expected to have completed the works on the 11th March 2022.
Rakgare said that the two however failed to complete the works and an extension was granted for completion of works in August 2022. He noted that despite the extension, the two unfortunately still failed to complete the works and instead they furnished the council with price adjustment requests citing the rise in commodity and material prices in the market.
He stated that the submissions by the two companies were assessed and an agreement was reached between the two based on current rates.
“With regard to the said substandard materials used in the project, the ministry and council are not aware of such, we can assure that all the materials prescribed to be used at the site are tested and have passed the set standards. As the ministry and council we are compelled to comply with the building and control act where all the building works are designed to meet the set specifications,” he said.
He stressed that all the mortar block bricks used at the project have met all the quality standards and were procured in the Tutume locality while the stork bricks were procured at a reputable company in Francistown supplying major industrial construction companies.
Rakgare has explained that the rest of the materials used in the project also passed Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS) and SABS, having gone through approval stages before installation.
“The council personnel have assured us that all stages of construction go through inspection and approval before constructors can proceed with other stages of construction,” he said.
