Half A Million Dollars For Lautoka Lighting
Half a million dollars will go towards the project to light up Lautoka.
This was announced by the Attorney General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum during the 2022-23 budget announcement on July 15.
He said assistance will be provided to the Lautoka City Council with the upgrading and installation of stadium lighting at Churchill Park.
“We want the Fijian Drua home games to be played in the evenings and we need to light up the stadium to make that happen.
“Night games get more fans as we saw right here in Suva at the ANZ Stadium. They also bring in more viewers around the world,” he said.
Lautoka City Council’s Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Anees Khan said the council is delighted at the recent budget allocation and looks forward to implementing it with the intent of improving lighting at Churchill Park for night games.
Mr Khan said the funding will enable the council to pursue the preparatory works for the international standard flood lighting for the venue.
“Night games will attract not only locals but tourists who are keen to enjoy cooler weather compared to the hot days.
“The trickle-down effect will surely be beneficial to the wider business community, in terms of retail, food and beverages, hotel and transport sectors,” he said.
He added that the council is contemplating increasing the seating capacity to attract more international quality sport events of rugby, soccer and athletics.
“We also want to bring boxing events to Churchill Park as well. With the upgrade of floodlights and increased seating, Churchill Park will be ready to host Coke Games and international events at night.”
“Council is also looking to re-turfing the park surface to cater for ever demanding standards of all turf games, basically rugby and soccer,” he said.
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