The yet-to-be opened Bingu National Stadium (BNS) in Lilongwe will be draining an estimated K84 million from tax payers money per year in recurrent expenditures.
Spokesperson for the Ministry of Sports and Culture, Christopher Mbukwa, said the facility will be requiring K7 million per month for water, electricity and security bills.
“This is based on current activities. It could be more if the stadium is opened,” Mbukwa said.
Recently, Parliament allocated K841million for the completion of the facility, which was constructed through a loan from the Chinese government.
The stadium was also allocated K30 million for Other Recurrent Transactions (ORT) in the National Budget, which means that the facility will have a shortfall of K54 million for the recurrent expenditures.
However, Mbukwa was quick to say that the estimated monthly expenditure might be on the lower side once the stadium is fully operational this September.
“Other activities at the stadium will be able to finance some of the costs. It might be less than the estimated K7 million per month but not more than that,” he explained.
Government is also planning to construct a police unit at the facility to boost security after a recent aborted break-in.
The monster of the stadium is expected to be home to Malawi National Football team, the Flames, after Kamuzu Stadium of Blantyre was condemned as unfit to host international matches.
BNS was completed last November, but it has not been opened because government failed to mobilise extra funds— outside the Chinese allocation— to facilitate the connection of High Power Voltage and sewerage system.
However, following the K841million allocation to the stadium, the ministry is identifying a contractor to complete the work.
The ministry will also recruit over 50 people to manage the Olympic- designed facility.
The stadium was constructed through a concessional loan from the Chinese government pegged at about K29.4 billion ($70 million) payable in 20 years with a grace period of seven years and an annual interest rate of two percent.
BNS COMPONENTS
Treatment room
Car park
Synthetic running track
Grass pitch
CCTV
VIP lounge
Shopping room
Conference room
Exhibition room
Press galleries
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