OSHAKATI – The shortage of rainfall in various parts of the country has also taken its toll on Oshakati, with the town’s Independence Stadium bone dry.
The giant 8 000-seater built at a cost of N$20 million is in a sorry state and can at first glance easily be mistaken for a village sports field as the grass on the pitch is dying due to the non-existence of a watering system in recent months.
Formerly home to Oshakati City when the team was campaigning in the Namibia Premier League, the stadium primarily depends on water from the Calueque-Oshakati canal for its tending, but with the ongoing lack of rain the situation is worsening daily.
According to the chief sports officer for the northern regions, Sunday Haitembu, currently they are not able to water the pitch as the water level in the canal has drastically subsided below pumping level.
Currently the pitch is invaded by weeds and shrubs and has become hard and dry.
Haitembu said that since the stadium is in high demand as it caters for all four northern regions, there are plans to revive the facility to bring back joy to sports lovers in the north.
Haitembu reiterated the need to build at least one more state-of-the-art stadium in the north, saying that currently the Oshakati Independence Stadium is under enormous pressure in serving four regions, which causes the stadium to be overused.
In February 2008 two people died at the stadium during intense flooding across northern Namibia.
Just some weeks ago, the stadium also fell victim to heavy rainstorms that uprooted the security fence on the southern side. The fence was still lying toppled over on the ground when New Era Sport visited the site.