Residents blast BCC over football team

WHILE the Bulawayo City Council is busy preparing the road to higher ground for its football team BCC Golden Stars, residents feel the City Fathers are chewing more than they can swallow as the team is likely to strain the council's meagre resources.

BCC has declared its intent to ensure the team quickly moves to the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League after being promoted to Zifa Southern Region Division One last year. Already the club became the first team to pay up their registration and affiliation fees to the Zifa  Southern Region Division One league.

In separate interviews residents felt the council should only focus on service delivery and servicing its huge wage bill.

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association co-ordinator Rodrick Fayayo said it boggled the mind why the council wanted to add expenses to an already strained budget that has seen them failing to pay workers on time.

Fayayo said there was no shortage of football teams in Bulawayo and council should be making efforts to support these instead of competing against them. He wondered where the council would get the funds to finance the team when it was clear there was no financial reward in local football.

"We wonder what they are really trying to achieve by having their own team when they seem to be struggling financially. Maybe they have funds that we do not know about. Where are they going to get the funds for that because it means they will have to increase the budget but at the moment they are facing constraints servicing salaries, how then are they going to manage with an added cost?" queried Fayayo, adding that there were a lot of sporting infrastructures that was derelict and needed attention but council had chosen to focus on one sport.

"Another critical question is what informed the idea to form the team, were consultations held with residents that culminated in the formation of the football team? Or are we simply copying Harare because they have a team in the PSL? I feel the problem with our council is that they copy all the wrong things from Harare and the football team is one of them."

Bulawayo United Residents Association chairman Winos Dube said council should focus on creating a conducive environment that allows citizens to come up with their own teams instead of seeking to compete with residents.

However, he said the formation of the team might lead to a change of attitude towards sporting facilities depending on the approach council is taking and this might lead to the revival of other council infrastructure lying idle at the moment.

Dube said council might get to realise the importance of sport through this venture but also added it was unfortunate they were focusing on one sport that is popular and already oversubscribed.

He challenged the city council to eventually embrace other sporting disciplines such as cricket, hockey, swimming, boxing and basketball.

"Already we have swimming pools in the city's western suburbs that are not operating but then swimming is not just a sport but it is a life skill that one might need to use in time of danger and what is council doing to revive those swimming pools. Maybe council should ensure its entire sporting infrastructure is in proper working condition before seeking to be involved in sports," said Dube.

"Council needs to think broadly and not just focus on a popular sport and their decisions and actions shouldn't be motivated by the fact that other city councils are doing this. Why should we blindly copy what other councils are doing without analysing the implications?"

There has been concern over youth centres which were previously breeding grounds for talent in both sports and arts with little attention being paid towards their revival.

"I think the role of council is to create a conducive environment for its residents to form various social enterprises including sport teams and not run a football team,'' said former councillor, Wilson Bancinyane Ndiweni.

"Council's plate is full at the moment with various service delivery challenges that include roads, refuse, and sporting infrastructure among others," he said.

Ndiweni said it was unfortunate that councillors were not fully aware of their role as City Fathers otherwise they would not have agreed to a move by the council to bankroll a soccer team.

Efforts to find how much has been budgeted for the football team this year were fruitless as BCC senior public relations officer, Nesisa Mpofu failed to responded to questions e-mailed to her eight days ago.

However, mayor, Councillor Martin Moyo said they already have a facility under the Housing and Community Services department that funds such activities adding the team would be financed from there.

"Obviously they do not have an unlimited budget we will put a cap on it if we feel it is too much. I think the concerns of people saying that we shouldn't be having the team are unfounded.

"I think you should understand that even poor families plan for the future, they would certainly have another baby with the hope their financial situation will change for the better; it is just like us we have to plan for the future and creating enterprises without being hamstrung by our current financial situation," said Moyo.