Prime minister Elijah Ngurare says sport facilities at Nkurenkuru are far below national standards.
Ngurare inspected sport facilities in the Kavango West region on Saturday.
He said he had been given the impression that Nkurenkuru had completed stadiums that met national standards, but found a different situation during his visit.
“Someone gave me the impression that Nkurenkuru had completed stadiums built to proper national standards. Had I not come to see it for myself, I would not have known that this is not the case,” he said.
This comes more than a year after the government announced plans to build stadiums across the country.
Regional leaders told Ngurare that funding for the sport facilities had been budgeted, but progress stalled because of challenges in accessing the allocated funds.
Ngurare called on the Kavango West Regional Council and other stakeholders to work together to remove the obstacles delaying the projects and engage the relevant authorities to unlock the funds.
“Work together. Do not fight each other. There is a lot we can achieve together. We want to see these stadiums developed,” he said.
He said the region needs sport facilities that meet national standards and urged authorities to speed up the upgrading of stadiums and fields.
Ngurare said athletes in the Kavango West region deserve quality facilities, including grass playing fields similar to those available in other regions.
He added that improved sport infrastructure would create opportunities for young people and support sport development in the region.
In January, president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah placed regional governors at the forefront of the government’s drive to build sport stadiums nationwide.
The sport ministry has budgeted N$5 million for a basic sport facility in each of Namibia’s 121 constituencies.
The Namibian reported in April that the 14 regions had each received N$10 million to construct two facilities, amounting to 28 facilities at a total cost of N$140 million.
However, other documents suggest the actual cost could be N$25 million per facility, higher than the initial allocation.
