K504m Karonga Stadium construction

Construction of the much-awaited K504 million Karonga Stadium starts on Tuesday, 31 days after government handed over the project to a contractor.

This comes barely three days after communities petitioned their district commissioner, demanding answers on why the construction was failing to start.

Karonga district commissioner Rosemary Moyo said contractors were now on the ground and blamed the communities for lacking patience.

“Note that the construction works for Karonga Stadium have finally commenced. The contractors are on the ground. And looking at the way things are progressing, it is my hope that the facility will be ready for use soon. However, I am blaming the communities for lacking patience over the project. It is important to note that this is a big project that demands contractors to be given enough time to mobilise resources,” said Moyo.

Community chairperson for Karonga Stadium construction project, Kossam Munthali, said they were expecting nothing less than the commencement of the construction.

“We are happy that the construction work has finally begun despite some delays. As communities, we are monitoring the construction progress so that the stated period that the facility was set to be ready for use by the communities should be achieved,” he said.

The site for the stadium is at Baka Research Station in the area of Paramount Chief Kyungu.

Capital Hill handed over the site to Nangaunozge Building Contractors to start constructing the stadium early last month.