By MICHAEL MIYOBA
GOVERNMENT says it has continued to prioritise sports infrastructure development as an essential aspect of sports development.
Minister of Sports, Youth and Arts Elvis Nkandu said during a question and answer session in Parliament yesterday that Government is in the process of rehabilitating and constructing mini sports stadia at national, provincial and district level.
Responding to Kabwata Member of Parliament Andrew Tayengwa who wanted to know if the government has plans to construct mini stadia in all provincial centres and how much it would cost, Nkandu said Government was motivated to work on sports infrastructure development to help develop sports in the country.
“Government through my ministry is in the process of rehabilitating four provincial stadiums in Eastern, Northern, Luapula and North-Western provinces with funding from FIFA,” Nkandu said.
“This has been facilitated through an agreement between FIFA and the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) and further the national infrastructure plan that has proposed to construct and rehabilitate sports facilities at national provincial and district levels,” he said.
“To do well in sports we need to invest in sports infrastructure development which is cardinal so we are motivated by that fact.
Nkandu said the total cost of the rehabilitation and construction of sports stadia will be determined by the type and capacity of the stadia.
“This government is motivated by the fact that sports are not just looked at as entertainment but as a vehicle that can create job opportunities for our young people and also create employment,” Nkandu said.
“The other motivation is that sports now are acting as a tool that can help alleviate poverty amongst young people so the zeal is there to construct stadia in all districts,” he said.
Meanwhile, Nkandu appealed to Members of Parliament to consider tapping into CDF to develop sports infrastructure in all constituencies.
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