Tiles begin to peel off at the Bulawayo City Pool two weeks after Youth Games

TILES at the Bulawayo City Pool have started peeling off hardly two weeks after the hosting of the Africa Union Region 5 Under-20 Youth Games.

The water has also turned green.

Refurbishments at the facility raised it to an international standard facility with excelling swimmers capable of being considered for major international events.

There is a problem in the pump's valves and as such not enough water is supplied into both pools.

The practice and main pools were connected to one filtration system.

When Chronicle Sport visited the facility yesterday there was a notice advising people who want to swim to go to either Barham Green Swimming Pool or the North End one as the City Pool is closed for repairs.

Hebert Karuma, an engineer with the Ministry of Public Construction who oversaw refurbishments at all facilities said he could not comment on the facility because he is on leave.

"I've been on leave since the AUSC Region 5 Games ended so I'm not aware of any problems at the pool," he said.

Lorna Riley the national swimming boss raised concerns over the condition of the swimming pool and expressed fears that if the pool is not fixed by February, they will be forced to move the Zimbabwe National Swimming gala to Harare.

"We're concerned with the state of the City Pool, we had set it as our venue for our first national swimming championships and now we aren't sure if it's going to be ready before February for the event. If the situation does not change we'll be forced to move the event to Harare and it won't be good for Bulawayo," she said.

A source at the pool said; "All I can tell you is that the pool is not functional and that there is a lot of work to be done, the pump and some of the tiles from both pools are coming off the floor and walls."

Karuma said the facilities were handed over to the Bulawayo City Council after the Games and it is now council which is responsible for their upkeep and maintenance.

"We handed the facilities to the Bulawayo City Council and they're therefore the best people that can say what exactly is going on," he said.

Efforts to get a comment from BCC were fruitless.