Deputy Minister for Information, Youth, Culture and Sports, Juma Nkamia, has directed the Moshi Municipal Council (MMC) to ensure an artificial turf is laid at the King George Memorial Stadium.
Deputy Minister for Information, Culture, Youths and Sports, Mr Juma Nkamia
Nkamia made the order when he visited the ground that is currently used as a second-hand cloth market in Moshi Municipality.
Nkamia said everything was in place to make the ground a modern stadium and that if his directive is not implemented within two months the artificial turf would be shifted to another ground.
He advised the municipal authorities to warn traders against establishing permanent business places in the area, otherwise he would consult with the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) to move the investment to another region.
Speaking at the event, TFF Secretary General Celestine Mwesigwa said the King George is among stadiums that TFF had asked for funding and that the world football governing body, FIFA, has released the required funds.
He said FIFA has a programme for the construction of stadia and laying of artificial turfs in the developing countries each year, citing the Gombani Stadium in Pemba, Karume Memorial Stadium in Dar es Salaam, Nyamagana in Mwanza and Kaitaba in Kagera region.
Mwesigwa said they want all regions in the country to have a stadium with an artificial turf, noting that with such a stadium Kilimanjaro could earn up to 20m/- per month and the traders could benefit much.
Acting MMC Executive Director, Erick Mapinda said there are more that 200,000 traders in the stadium who have been contributing about 6m/- a month to the council.
By DEUS NGOWI, Tanzania Daily News