By Grecium Gama:

Construction of the 20,000-seater Thyolo Stadium continues to face delays after the contractor asked for more money to complete works.

Thyolo District Commissioner Hudson Kuphanga said the contractor now wants K11 billion, up from the original K5 billion, due to rising prices of materials.

“The contractor wants to finish the VIP and VVIP stands, as well as dressing rooms. But we cannot proceed without approval from the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority,” Kuphanga said.

He said the continued delays are affecting the council’s plans to start making money from the stadium once completed.

The project started in 2018 with a K2.5 billion budget and was expected to be finished in 18 months.

But, just like many other government projects, it has stalled on several occasions due to various factors such as intermittent cash flow.

Meanwhile, Civil Society Accountability Platform Executive Director Willy Kambwandira has questioned the price hike, calling it suspicious.

“This may be a way to steal public funds. It could be that some officials are working with the contractor to delay the project on purpose. This is quite worrying,” Kambwandira said.

Over the years, several authorities have raised concerns about the delays.

In 2020, some stakeholders criticised the Ministry of Local Government for failing to prioritise the project among its activities.

Former sports minister Francis Phiso said the project was being slowed down by unnecessary bureaucracy.

Thyolo Stadium has great potential to host many big matches as it is close to Blantyre which has four TNM Super League teams.

Over the years, the commercial city has seen its number of match facilities decline with Kamuzu and Mpira stadiums being the only ones still available.

Previously, Super League matches were also being played at Escom, BAT and MDC grounds which are now not in usable state.