STANLEY Mutoya, the Chairperson of the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Organising Committee, has applauded the Rapokolana High Altitude Sports Training Centre located on the outskirts of Maseru, describing it as an ideal facility that Lesotho could generate a lot of income from.
sports
Nov. 29, 2021
TEBOHO JAFETA
2 min read
Rapokolana lauded as great facility for sports tourism
Chairperson of the AUSC Region 5 Organising Committee, Stanley Mutoya
Story highlights
Owing to its high standard, the centre can attract athletes from all over the world
The M55 million-worth sports facility was constructed by Lesotho Government in 2005 to develop local athletes
“This centre is a milestone and a place to be used not only by Basotho but by the entire region and the African continent. Due to the standard of its gymnasium, the centre will attract athletes from all over Africa and Europe because of its advantage of being located very high above sea level. Athletic specialists value high altitude training camp towards preparations for major competitions.
“The swimming competition for AUSC Region 5 Games is crucial to the athletes as it will be used as qualification for the 2023 African Games set for Accra, Ghana,” Mutoya told a media briefing at the centre on Saturday during a tour of the facility.
The tour was spearheaded by the Minister of Sports and Recreation, Likeleli Tampane alongside her Public Works counterpart, Lebohang Monaheng.
The Rapokolana High Altitude Sports Training Centre is a M55 million-worth sports facility constructed by the Government of Lesotho in 2005 in order to develop local athletes.
The centre has, however remained unutilised since then for unexplained reasons.
The facility comprises a state-of the-art gymnasium, an indoor swimming pool, a football pitch, a running-track as netball and tennis courts, among others.
This top class centre will be utilised for the first time in 16 years when hosts the swimming component of the competition.
Lehlohonolo Ncheke, the Manager Projects Planning and Studies at Water and Sewage Company (WASCO) who is working in collaboration with the South African contractor, ImproChem (Pty) Ltd said the water pumping and purification project commenced on November 4, adding that it is almost complete.
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“We have installed a water purification system which pumps water from the nearby river to the purification station where the water is refined and transported to the Rapokolana centre. This system filters and transports 1million litres of water to the centre each day and we started transporting water on Sunday. The capacity is enough for filling the swimming pool and for consumption at the residence,” he noted.
The system, he said operates day and night, making an assurance that the water will be consistently available at the centre throughout the duration of the games.
“Upon arrival in the pool, the water will be transported to the pool filtering room and will be heated before it can be transported back to the pool ready for use by the athletes,” Ncheke said.
For her part, Tampane thanked all the contractors who were involved in the project for a job well done, saying the sports ministry was able to replace the furniture that was stolen from the facility a few months ago.
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