adminextravaganza.
But while the preparations for the Games should have been gathering momentum in Mashonaland Central, it has actually emerged that the poor state of infrastructure at the selected venues in the province could scupper the successful staging of the Games and turn them into a huge embarrassment.
A recent visit to Bindura, the provincial capital, revealed a worrying state of the roads that lead to the venues and the pathetic state of the Games venues such as Chipadze Stadium.
The sorry state of the venues, which leaves a shadow on the efforts being made by Games’ chief executive Stan Kasukuwere and his committee, is also a far cry from the vision that the Games’ patron Vice President Mujuru had when she officially launched the 2012 edition of the Youth Games.
“The theme ‘Harnessing youth talent through sport’ is a clarion call for the pooling of information, financial human and material resources so that the sport talent inhibited by the youth can be exposed.
“This launch comes after the successful hosting of the 2011 National Youth Education through Sport Festival which saw 10 provinces converging in Bindura town.
“The exposure and experience of the National Youth Education through Sport Festival in December 2011 should inspire us to organise more successfully this 10th edition of the Zimbabwe National Youth Games.
“The value of sport is becoming more evident each day. Besides learning skills through sport our youth also learn to become more confident, resilient, persevering and team building. In addition they interact, they appreciate the diversity among themselves which in turn fosters tolerance,’’ said Vice President Mujuru.
But that opportunity could be lost on the youth in Mashonaland Central if the lackadaisical approach being taken in terms of preparing the Games venues if left unchecked.
Yet Kasukuwere, who ironically has exhibited a lot of zeal in marketing the Games and lined up a number of fund-raising projects, appears to have to have joined a bandwagon that gives lip service to the need to upgrade the facilities if the events are to be taken seriously. Kasukuwere also admitted during the launch that much work needed to be done to upgrade the facilities but to date not much effort has actually been done on the ground.
“We visited the venues and the villages and concluded that the structures need to be spruced up.
“As for the villages much work needs to be done in the face of disease outbreaks such as cholera and typhoid,’’ Kasukuwere said.
But three months before the Games burst into life even the Local organising committee members, who toured some of the districts in the province, are now worried about the rate at which resource mobilisation is taking place.
“The district visits revealed that most of the districts are still to co-ordianate on resource mobilisation initiatives.
“It is therefore of paramount importance that fortnightly visits are made to all districts and meetings held with the district and fund-raising leadership. The Governor’s office is critical in engaging the chiefs and other traditional leaders, legislators and political leaders, corporate entities and the mines,’’ the committee noted.
Online Reporter