The renovation of the national football stadium in Changlimithang, which is scheduled to complete in March this year, is expected to complete only by next month.

Bhutan Olympic Committee (BOC) project manager, Kinley Tshering, said that additional works caused the delay.

He said the project had to carry out repair works on the other part of the sitting gallery which had sunk in.  “The gallery couldn’t be fitted with plastic chairs unless it was levelled and this took more time.”

He also said organising international football matches, important celebrations and other mega events at the stadium also hampered their work progress.

“We were not able to work for 10 to 15 days,” Kinley Tshering said. “So the work completion was delayed.”

Although the tenure of the contract passed the deadline, the time period of the project was extended in respect of several disruptions and to ensure quality.

The project manager said restructuring works are 90 percent complete. The project is putting final touches on the bottom part of the gallery including locker rooms, conference halls, room for anti-doping test, and restrooms for the players.

He said placing the plastic chairs is the only major remaining work.  “There was some delay in importing the nuts and bolts of the chairs.”

Kinley Tshering said they received the required materials and the installing of chairs will be done soon.

“We are pressurising contractors to finish the work by July,” Kinley Tshering said.

The committee found out that the rooms were not used adequately. “The rooms available will be outsourced to private individuals who will be using it for sports shop galleries,” the manager said. “This is basically to generate revenue.”

Meanwhile, the arena now wears a new look with colourful outdoor plastic chairs being fitted on the concrete gallery.

The committee plans to add a similar curve gallery to give the stadium a complete international standard appearance. However, officials say the plan would entirely depend on the availability of fund.

The Nu 35 million project is funded by the government of India.

Nima

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