Malawi govt chases away illegal cultivators around Bingu stadium

Government has started landscaping around the multi billion Chinese funded magnificent Bingu Stadium in Lilongwe, after successfully chasing away some people who illegally grabbed the land for cultivation.

This shows the government is making the stadium ready for use in 2016 after the Chinese government officially handed it over to the Malawi government last month.

Government chief landscaper Saulos Kachitsa said the government did not meet resistance from the illegal land grabbers who cultivated maize around the state of the art stadium.

“We flighted advertisements in the media warning people not to cultivate the land this year. In addition, we held a series of meetings with local leaders around the stadium so most people did not cultivate, they adhered to our call,” said Kachitsa.

Minister of Works Francis Kasaila said recently that the government is planning to have new roads to the stadium to ease congestion on the main roads when the stadium is open.

Football Associaion of Malawi (FAM) general secretary Suzgo Nyirenda said his organisation is waiting for communication from the government before arranging matches to be played at the stadium.

“We cannot just fix matches at the stadium without a written communication from the government to tell us that the stadium is ready,” he said.

He said if the government writes FAM before February, then the maiden game at the stadium would be between the national team, the Flames and Guinea scheduled in March.

Minister of Sports Grace Obama says the stadium would e ready as soon as government building inspectors have completed the inspection of the stadium, the first of its kind in Malawi.