‘Arbab Niaz Stadium construction work to be completed by June’

LAHORE: Advisor to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sports Minister Amjad Aziz Malik has said that the construction work of the Arbab Niaz Stadium Peshawar will be completed by June this year.

“Look, chairs have been installed, pavilion is ready while floodlights are yet to be installed. You know due to financial condition of the country and the rise of dollar rate the cost of construction has increased,” Amjad told ‘The News’ in an interview.

“Around Rs2 billion will be spent on the project. The grass has been grown, pitches have been prepared and we hope that by June the construction work will be completed. It is clear that this time we will not be able to host the PSL matches as schedule of the marquee event has already been unveiled,” he said.

He rubbished the speculations around the construction work of the venue and said that the fact is that provincial government is dependent on the federal government. “But whatever funds KP government had have been released. And the credit goes to KP Sports Minister Dr Najeebullah Marwat who did a fine job and also requested KP Chief Minister. The chief minister was very kind and so some fund has been released and we are hopeful that the construction will be completed until June,” said Amjad, also a senior journalist.

About the Hayatabad Cricket Stadium, he said that it is a great honour for KP that it has got another international standard venue. “The construction work of the Hayatabad Cricket Stadium has almost been completed and in six weeks it will be handed over to the KP Sports Directorate,” Amjad said.

“It’s almost ready and here both domestic and international matches can be held,” he was quick to add. “Our Chief Minister Justice (retd) Syed Arshad Hussain Shah and Dr Najeebullah Marwat want to hold an exhibition match in Peshawar in which those players should feature who are part of the PSL. I don’t know whether it will be possible or not but we desire to hold a game here as people of Peshawar have not witnessed top-level cricket since 2006. Hopefully we will get the control of this venue and then here domestic matches could be conducted,” he said.

Asked whether there is any plan of the KP government to give both these venues to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on lease Amjad said they want to do so. “Look, personally I also want and our provincial sports minister also desires that both these venues should be given to the PCB on lease. I used to say in the past also that it becomes very difficult for a provincial government to manage the affairs of such venues although our government has run the affairs of the Arbab Niaz Stadium very well and whatever matches this venue has hosted were well-managed. Had we given this venue to the PCB five years back it could have saved our Rs2 billion. Still there are no floodlights and we will have to bear its expenses also,” Amjad said.

“A committee was constituted. We held three meetings and we discussed how both venues could be handed over to the PCB on lease. We will look at all the rules and regulations before deciding the fate of both the venues,” he said.

“We want that there should be a joint management committee after lease so that besides the PCB the involvement of the provincial government in its management could be ensured,” Amjad said. “We also want that PCB should install floodlights at the Arbab Niaz Stadium by June. We are ready to hand over the academy also to the PCB but there are some conditions which need to be deliberated upon. It’s usually difficult for a care-taker government to take such decisions,” he said. “We have also forwarded an application to the law department to seek its opinion whether we can give both these venues to the PCB and on what conditions,” Amjad signed off.