Construction of the 12 500-seater M’Mbelwa Stadium in Mzimba District is expected to be completed this September, contractor of the project has said.

In an interview on Tuesday, Manobec Construction Company project manager Victor Msowoya said the stadium would have been completed last year, but it has delayed due to a rise in the cost of building materials.

Part of the stands under construction

He said:‘‘We are hoping that all things being equal, we should be completing construction works on the stadium in September this year.

‘‘We encountered some challenges when erecting the roof of the VIP covered section, as such, we had to redesign the roof. And redesigning took our time. We also suffered the consequences of the devaluation. It meant reworking the whole budget to factor in the devaluation. All these factors have worked to delay the completion of the stadium.”

Malawi News Agency visited the project site on Wednesday and observed that construction of terraces was completed and what remained were at final touches at the VIP section as well as the turf.

Site supervisor and foreman Justin Magalasi said: ‘‘We completed all the terraces. We are now doing finishing touches to the VIP section such as what would be bars, dressing rooms and others. The main work remaining is plastering.’’ A football fan, Mayeso Banda from Chanthomba at Mzimba Boma, said he wished the stadium was completed quickly to start hosting matches

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