Rufaro Stadium: Photo courtesy of OpenCouncilHRE

The City of Harare (CoH) Committee on Housing and Community services says CoH grounds have not been maintained or upgraded as per Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) and Premier Soccer League (PSL) requirements.

The committee told a recent Full Council meeting that the Information and Publicity Committee had toured Rufaro and Gwanzura Stadia and observed that they fall short of desired standards.

During the deliberations, the Committee noted the constraints faced by the Department of Housing and Community services regarding the purchase of materials for Stadia rehabilitation, and directed the Acting Town Clerk to come up with an Inter-Departmental Task Force for the rehabilitation of Council’s Stadia.

The main mandate of the Inter-Departmental Task Force is to co-ordinate the repairs, maintenance and upgrading of City of Harare’s Stadia.

Apparently, the Acting Director of Housing and Community Services advised the meeting that due to financial constraints, various materials whose requisitions had been raised had not been procured, hence the status of the Stadia.

Meanwhile, the Acting Director of Health Services Dr Kudzai Masunda reported that not all Council Clinics had been opened to date.

The House noted that the rate at which council nurses are reportedly resigning should be referred to Human Resources and General Purposes Committee for confirmation.

During further discussion, the Committee asserted that there is a need for customer care at Council’s clinics.

It was resolved that the Director of Health Services and Acting Human Capital Director should ensure good customer care at Clinics and all other work stations where staff interface with the public.

Meanwhile, at one point, Confederation of African Football (CAF) inspectors, condemned the country’s stadiums and demanded that improvements be done.

Players have complained of injuries arising from the poor state of stadia that have put their careers at risk.

As for Gwanzura, since 2015 it has not been working with most PSL matches being to Rufaro and National Sports Stadium.

After independence, the country used to boast of good football facilities in the mould of Gwanzura Stadium in Highfield, Chibuku Stadium, Chitungwiza, Rufaro Stadium dubbed (the ceremonial  home of Zimbabwean football), however they become a pale shadow of their former state.

 

-Zwnews/ OpenCouncilHRE