Speaking to Zodiak on Tuesday after a monitoring visit, PACENET project officer, Jonathan Mwamulima said it's sad that the K4.6 billion stadium which was scheduled to complete by December 2021, has now been pushed to March 2024.

Mwamulima said their monitoring assessment on the project has established that the government's funding inconsistencies have been a major problem affecting the stadium completion.

During the visit, a few DEC construction workers were seen constructing the remaining structures such as fence, toilets and covered stands.

It was also noted that, the government is yet to commit funding towards the stalled stadium shops including the improvised netball and volleyball courts.

"It has been our concern because this project was supposed to be completed by December 2021. We are expecting that the government will do everything possible to ensure that this facility is completed under the new dates," Mwamulima said.

Thyolo district commissioner, Hudson Kuphanga has also shared the concern, indicating that the delay is equally affecting the council's high prospects of collecting revenue at the stadium.

"80 percent I am impressed, however there is sort of some works which need to be done. Actually, the council is looking at the stadium as one of the ways of getting the revenue so the delay in completing the stadium is dragging the council to get resources. This is because sometimes we operate at zero budget," he said.

PACENET has been monitoring the project for the past 12 months where among others through this, the district council has now uploaded all the information regarding the stadium and the office complex on the COST Malawi portal for transparency.