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Sports Reporter
ENGINEERS who constructed Mandava Stadium will tour the proposed site of Plumtree Stadium to be used by Bulawayo Chiefs this morning. Dumisani Mantula Sibanda, the club spokesperson confirmed this on Saturday. He reiterated his club’s commitment to taking Premiership football to the border town.
“The company and engineers that were behind the construction of Mandava Stadium will be in Plumtree with our chairman Lovemore Sibanda on Monday. They will visit the site that has been identified and they will meet the local authorities and their engineer.
“We want work to begin soon, there are a number of issues though that we are still to thrash out with the Plumtree Town Council,” said Sibanda.
Dingumuzi Stadium cannot be renovated to accommodate a bigger crowd because of its location. While in the past it could accommodate up to 2000 fans, the growth of the town and that of the Castle Lager brand has forced both Bulawayo Chiefs and the town council to consider a new facility in the border town.
Sibanda said the company has indicated that the project could take up to four months which could enable the team to play their first game at home. The stadium will also house an athletics track and should have a clubhouse which will be part of the team’s income generating projects and boarding facilities for the academy whose foundation was laid three weeks ago when Dalubuhle Bhebhe identified players from the town and the two districts of Bulilima and Mangwe.
“We want the people of Plumtree to benefit even in sporting disciplines like athletics where we intend coming up with a standard athletics track and facilities. The stadium should take sport to a higher level and as Chiefs we want to leave a lasting legacy in the community that has strongly been behind us in our fight for Premiership promotions,” said the Chiefs secretary-general.
The Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Andrew Langa has called on the business community to rally behind Plumtree Chiefs’ endeavours. He said his ministry will try to help Chiefs in their bid to construct a stadium to benefit that part of Matabeleland South.
“The provision and construction of facilities is the responsibility of government, the local authority and the business community. I would like to challenge the business community to partner in this venture,” said Minister Langa at Mangwe, Member of Parliament Obedingwa Mguni’s victory celebrations.
He congratulated Chiefs for bringing Premiership football to the province. They will be the second club from Matabeleland South playing Premiership football with Mbada Diamonds Cup finalists How Mine next season.
Mguni said the promotion of the club would boost the Plumtree economy. He said services providers would in anticipation of big volumes of human traffic in the town next year improve their facilities which could see more locals employed.
“The promotion of Chiefs means Plumtree will benefit from sport tourism as more people will be coming to watch Dynamos and Highlanders which are very popular clubs. Highlanders are even supported across the border in Francistown so we expect that people will also come from Botswana for the games which will be a boost for Plumtree business,” said Mguni.
Minister Langa is expected to tour the facility site on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Bulawayo Chiefs’ outstanding players for 2013 will be honoured on 1 December.
Sibanda said they would invite some of the big names associated with former town club Black Horrors.
“We want them to be at the function so that we honour them and we also want them to stand out as an inspiration to the younger players we have,” said Sibanda.
Horrors were one of the top clubs in the country before Independence with their best achievement being reaching the semi-finals of the 1979 Chibuku Trophy. They lost 2-0 to Caps United after driving all the way from Plumtree in the back of an Isuzu truck.
The likes of Lemmy Mnenekwa, Grey Ncube, Leroy Maplanka, Charles Chunda, Flackson Sibanda and Joseph Nkomazana are expected to attend.
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