LOBATSE The Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture has been impressed with the progress of the construction of Lobatse sports complex.

Mr Shaw Kgathi said he was optomistic that the stadium would be completed early next year as the progress was reported to be 75 per cent against the anticipated 85 per cent.

The stadium is progressing well but behind schedule as it was supposed to be completed by January 2010. The contractor had to request for two months extension, which means it would be completed by end of March.

I am so impressed with the amount of progress achieved and end of March is a reasonable time as we expect huge projects to have delays. The contractor would also have additional challenges in terms of rains, he said. Mr Kgathi cited an example of the Serowe stadium, which collapsed just because specifications were not followed. Over P30 million was spent on the project and I urge you to protect reputation of your name, and ensure specifications are followed to the letter, he added.

He said the March target was important because the project was a special assignment by the government to participate in the World Cup games. The Lobatse sports complex is one of the biggest in the country and it would cater for all sports codes. The facility has a sports hall comprising of a multipurpose hall for internal games, gym rooms, change rooms, ablutions, club bar, offices, viewing gallery, reception, and conference rooms.

The main stadium comprises of FIFA standard football pitch, synthetic athletic track with eight lanes, dual long/triple jump facilities, a triple storey pavilion with four change rooms, shower and ablutions, VIP lounge, offices, external vending stalls and viewing gallery. The stadium has a sitting capacity of 20 000.

The stadiums boundary fence has six gates, two electronic scoreboards, electronic timing equipment and four floodlight masts with sufficient lighting for TV coverage of football matches. BOPA