Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs Minister Faber Chidarikire is expected to officially lunch the 14th edition of the Zimbabwe National Youth Games at Chinhoyi University of Technology on Friday.

The launch will trigger mobilisation of resources for the annual games that will run from August 13-21 in Chinhoyi.

“The purpose of the launch is to raise resources to support the games,” said Sports Commission spokesperson Tirivashe Nheweyembwa.

He said the local organising committee had set a budget of $800,000 that will also cover renovations of various venues to be used by the more than 3,000 athletes expected to descend on Chinhoyi.

“Major costs came from the renovations, but if you take that off, we are looking at a budget of about $300 000,” he said.

The bulk of the money comes from the provinces’ affiliation pegged at $80 per athlete.

The provinces are supposed to pay 50 percent of their fees before the start of the games to allow the LOC to work on logistics.

Bulawayo province said they would be paying their fees on Monday, according to provincial sports coordinator Sam Dzvimbu.

“It’s only that some of our signatories are out of the city, otherwise we could have paid our $10,000 today,” said Dzvimbu.