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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
THE Victoria Falls Municipality is seeking partners to renovate the resort town’s dilapidated sporting facilities.

Facilities earmarked for renovation include Chinotimba Stadium and the old swimming pool that has been dysfunctional for more than a decade.

Zifa Southern Region Division One clubs Trumus and Amagagasi share Chinotimba Stadium as their home ground and in the event that they win promotion into the topflight league, they may be forced to play their home matches in Hwange or Bulawayo.

Residents raised the issue at the launch of the municipality’s client service charter last week where they expressed concern about the resort town’s lack of sport facilities.

“Chinotimba Stadium has never been upgraded. In fact, it is substandard. We want it to be of international standard so we can attract bigger teams to come and camp here,” said a resident.

Town clerk Christopher Dube said: “The stadium is in our strategic plan document and we are very much aware that if we have a stadium, we will attract teams locally and internationally. This is why we are launching this client service charter so that we identify and deliver on our mandate.”

Dube said the municipality was facing financial challenges as it depends on revenue collected from residents, which was not enough for such projects.

“We are not only looking at Chinotimba Stadium, but other facilities such as the swimming pool and cricket stadium. The government has to fund public sector projects, but we are encouraged to do triple Ps (public private partnerships). We are looking for partnerships so we can be able to provide social amenities,” he said.

Zimbabwe Cricket promised to build a cricket stadium two years ago, but nothing has happened to date.

The resort town was allocated $60,000 legacy money by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) after successfully hosting the 2013 World Tourism Conference for renovation of the swimming pool, but the money never reached the local authority.

Chinotimba Stadium is in a sorry state with no dressing rooms. The perimeter fence has been vandalised and the turf is substandard.

Residents feel the council could generate revenue from the swimming pool and stadium.