Chronicle Editor
Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation has chosen to remain mum on the progress made so far in installing bucket seats at the National Sports Stadium in Harare and Barbourfields Stadium in Bulawayo.
The two iconic facilities remain on the Caf ‘red zone’ facilities although there was provisional allowance for the Harare facility to be used.
In September last year Minister Coventry assured Senators in Parliament that the process of acquiring bucket seats was already in motion with a tender for the supply having been issued. Three months later in December, her deputy Tino Machakaire told our Harare Bureau that bucket seats should be erected by March 2021, in time for the Warriors’ first Fifa World Cup qualifier against South Africa. The opener was however moved to September due to a spike in Covid-19 cases.
Machakaire said they initially wanted to import bucket seats from China but those plans were halted by the pandemic forcing them to turn to local suppliers.
“We have received a lot of samples and we are at an advanced stage in terms of our assessment (of local samples). Very soon we will be announcing the winner of the bid and from there we will be ready to start installing the bucket seats,” Machakaire was qouted saying before announcing the March 2021 deadline.
However there was no joy when Chronicle Sport contacted the Sports Ministry on Thursday to inquire why the seats had not been erected, a year after Senators were assured that the process had been set in motion.
Deputy director of communications in the ministry Rainson Madzamba, when contacted referred Chronicle Sport to his boss, the director of communications Nomusa Mpofu.
She too failed to give any reasons but instead referred the inquiry back to her deputy.
Last week Caf turned down Zifa’s request to have a limited number of vaccinated fans for the Warriors’ duel against Ghana, raising the issue of bucket seats.
Online Reporter