Unlikely it will be ready for 2013 games, says minister
Singapore’s plans to host the South-east Asia (SEA) Games in 2013 are in jeopardy because of continued delays to the new Sports Hub, said Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan yesterday.
The government, he added, is now in active discussions with the Singapore National Olympic Council and will make an official confirmation soon on whether it will pass up the 2013 hosting plans completely or put the Republic’s name in the hat for the next edition in 2015 instead.
Speaking to the media at Pulau Ubin where he was gracing a Youth Olympic Games (YOG) event, Dr Balakrishnan said that the government would not be hasty in finishing the $1.87 billion facility at Kallang, which has been dogged by one delay after another due to financial and legal issues and the global economic downturn.
‘Quite frankly, I think it is unlikely that it will be ready for the 2013 SEA Games,’ he said, adding that delays had to be expected because the government did not want to overspend on the 35-hectare project and cost taxpayers more in the long run.
‘The reason for the delay is because we have been so careful about spending money. For instance if we had insisted on rushing through the project early last year, we would have incurred much higher construction costs. Similarly, if we had insisted on rushing through the project early part of this year, interest rates would have been exorbitant . . . even the loans would probably have been non-existent.’ Continue reading
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