Notoane made the remarks after the Minister of Finance Dr Moeketsi Majoro announced in this year’s budget speech on Wednesday that the government would provide the funds to build the playing grounds in Lepereng, Maseru and apartments at the NUL, Roma, to provide accommodation for the athletes. The regional games will be held in December and a total of 10 member states will compete in sporting disciplines such as soccer, netball, boxing, taekwondo, athletics, tennis and swimming. “We were always confident that the government was behind the games and even though a loud of noise was made, we remained hopeful that the government would keep its word and show the necessary financial and morale support,” Notoane also said.

He was, however, quick to admit that the M339 million is not enough in comparison with the M2.4 billion that was initially budgeted for hosting the event.  
“I have always been clear that infrastructure development to host successful games depends entirely on the government and not the LOC,” he said.
He noted that the procurement processes needed to be made as early as possible so that when the funds were released in April, everything went according to plan.

LeNA/METRO