Residents, especially the youth in Ngoma District and its environs, can finally realize their long-held dream of a fully-fledged sports complex, following the finalization of plans for the construction of Ngoma Stadium. The facility will be built in Kibungo sector, within Ngoma town, and is expected to cost $9 million (around Rwf8 billion) and it is expected to have capacity to host at least 3,000 people. The construction activities of the stadium are set to begin next week, according to officials from China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), a Chinese construction company that will fund and build the stadium on a loan that will be repaid by the district for a period of five years. While launching the project on Wednesday, Aphrodice Nambaje, the district mayor, said the stadium will help the young community develop and showcase their talents while the construction works are expected to generate a number of jobs for the community. “We are really happy for this project as we have been waiting for this stadium for so long. We are expecting to have a good stadium with good standards and we look forward to seeing the local community, especially youth, benefiting from it as a source of employment during the construction and a place to nurture their talents in different sporting disciplines once the facility is completed,” Nambaje said. Nambaje hailed the government’s partnership with CRBC, through which different infrastructure activities are being built in the district including roads and other projects will go a long way in stimulating economic activity in the district. The facility will be a multipurpose sports complex with up-to-standards features like football pitch, a running track, volleyball and basketball fields as well as a tennis court. The construction works are expected to generate over 400 jobs. Li Jianbo, the CRBC Managing Director, said the company is committed to play a big role in the government’s development programmes like they have been doing so during their long time of doing business in Rwanda. “In the past 44 years that we have spent here, we have witnessed different achievements by the Rwandan government, especially in recent years, and it is our privilege to have a role in this development. “After completion, we believe the stadium will be able to provide a safer and better place for the local community to do sports activities. Sports events can also be held here, and as I believe many of you are football fans, I do hope this stadium can become a host of talents that can be turned into future Rwandan football players of the national football team,” he said. The company has previously implemented different construction projects including Kigali-Rusumo road, Kigali Urban upgrading project, Kivu Belt Road and Kamembe Airport road, among many other projects implanted in the country since they came to Rwanda in 1974. “All these projects done by China Road Bridge Construction brought huge benefits to local people and we are so proud and honoured to have participated in building a more prosperous nation and I have faith that together we can build a better Rwanda for the future generation,” added Jianbo. Narcisse Mugisha, 21, told The New Times that this is an opportunity that all the youth in the district should seize, saying that there has been a lot of talent that went to waste because they were not facilitated, which, he said, the stadium would be addressing. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
