Transplant Games go off track
R5.5 million has been allocated to the Kings Park Athletic Stadium, but with days to go no work has been done.
DILAPIDATED stands, filthy bathrooms and a crumbling track is what the 1800 participants in the World Transplant Games will be greeted with when they arrive at the Kings Park Athletics Stadium to compete.
The games are set to begin on Sunday 28 July and run until 4 August during which time the word’s eyes will be on Durban during this prestigious event. None of the proposed upgrades to the stands, the track or the bathrooms have begun.
The Highway Mail was approached by an anonymous member of the KwaZulu-Natal Athletics Club who was both concerned about the state of the site and had inside information regarding the supposed upgrade to the track. “DP Sports Organisers and Fintrex, a company that specialises in synthetic sports surfaces, were initially offered the contract to upgrade and organise the athletic events for the World Transplant Games,” said the source.
He said a key member in the eThekwini Municipality confirmed that the funding, R5.5 million, had been allocated for the intended upgrades to the Kings Park Athletics Stadium and that both companies had submitted their final quotes in January this year. “They waited for months before finding out that the contract had instead been handed to another company,” said the source.
According to Sello Mokoena, president of KwaZulu-Natal Athletics, a resubmission was called for by the city in April and funds were set aside for the repair of flood lights, timing equipment and re-surfacing of the synthetic track. Both Mokoena and Clyde Kinlock, the current athletics operations manager for the World Transplant Games, believed that CK Industries was awarded the contract and were due to begin the upgrades in April.
When CK Industries were contacted and asked to comment on why no upgrades were taking place, owner of CK Industries Phillip Van Tonder said that it was a very sensitive issue. He said that his company was not appointed for the renovations or upgrade of the running surface at the KwaZulu-Natal Athletics Stadium. “This however appears to have fallen through again, and it is for this reason that we requested a meeting with the Parks Department once more,” said Mokoena.
No upgrades have started.
Kinloch said the KZNA Winter Series in May, June and July and five Federation Meets were cancelled due to the upgrades that were meant to take place at the track.
Questions were forwarded two weeks ago to five eThekwini Municipality officials who are said to have formed the team that would oversee the upgrades and ensure the readiness of Durban to host the World Transplant Games. At the time of going to press, there has been no comment from the municipality.
