Latest and probably the most assuring news on the fate of the Sports Hub. The main man has spoken. Well actually the article did not quote him but I am taking Dr Vivian's assurance as confirmation that we will have our Sports Hub eventually. Not being able to host the 2013 SEA games is a setback but in light of what is happening I suppose it is not such a major blow. Built our perfect Stadium and try for the next ASIAN GAMES instead. And once that is in our pocket, let us go for glory and host the Olympics.
S'pore may not host 2013 SEA Games due to Sports Hub delay
By Tan Yo-Hinn & Gladys Ow, Channel NewsAsia Posted: 30 September 2009 1605 hrs
SINGAPORE : Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Singapore may not host the 2013 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games as planned, due to delays in the completion of the Sports Hub.
The S$1.87-billion Sports Hub in Kallang is slated to be the main venue for the SEA Games.
When completed, it is expected to feature a suite of world class sporting facilities like a 55,000-capacity stadium and an indoor Aquatic Centre, as well as business and retail space.
But the project has been repeatedly delayed due to high construction costs and the global economic downturn.
Construction is now expected to begin only early next year and will take at least four years to complete.
That means it could miss the 2013 deadline, when Singapore is expected to host the SEA Games.
Dr Balakrishnan said: "The reason for the delays is because we have been so careful about spending money. If we had insisted on rushing through the project in the early part of this year, interest rates would have been exorbitant.
"I don't want to spend more than a cent than necessary. And I'd rather be cautious and deliberate, move forward but not be rushed into making hasty decisions or making decisions that would cost the taxpayers more in the long run."
Some 3,500 athletes aged 14 to 18 years who will be in Singapore for the 2010 Youth Olympics are expected to take part in the Culture and Education Programme (CEP).
But he gave the assurance that the Sports Hub project will not be cancelled.
Channel NewsAsia understands that the company responsible for the project, the Singapore Sports Hub Consortium, is unlikely to face penalties for the delays.
Many in the sports industry said hosting the SEA Games without the spectacle of the Sports Hub would not give Singapore the same impact of success it deserves.
A decision on whether Singapore will eventually host the 2013 SEA Games or the following one in 2015 is expected to be made soon.
Dr Balakrishnan was speaking at the launch of the Youth Olympic Games' Culture and Education Programme (CEP) pictograms, which represent the seven activities to promote the Olympic spirit. - CNA /ls
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
News are coming in...
News are coming in...at last we know a little more about what's going on albeit bad news.
S'pore may not play host
By Terrence Voon
SINGAPORE'S troubled Sports Hub project is unlikely to be completed in time for the 2013 South-east Asia Games, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan confirmed on Wednesday.
He said the Government will not be rushed into completing the $1.87 billion project at Kallang, which has been plagued by repeated delays since a private consortium won the bid to build the 35ha facility in January last year.
'Quite frankly, I think it is unlikely that it will be ready for the 2013 SEA Games,' Dr Balakrishnan told reporters at a Youth Olympic Games event on Wednesday.
'We're still discussing with the Singapore National Olympic Council and we'll take a decision later as to whether we'll put our hands up to host the 2013 SEA Games or to consider offering ourselves as a venue in the subsequent series of Games.'
His comments came after The Straits Times reported last month that the construction hiccups had jeopardised the Republic's hosting of the SEA Games.
Dr Balakrishnan sought to explain why the delays were inevitable because the Government did not want to over-spend on the facility, which includes a 55,000-seater dome-shaped National Stadium with a retractable roof.
'I'd rather be cautious and deliberate moving forward, but not be rushed into making hasty decisions or making decisions which will cost the tax payers more in the long run,' he added.
'I still want to work within the budget that we have set out for ourselves, but in due time there will be a Sports Hub which all of us can be very proud of.'
Read the actual article and letters from the readers here:-
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_436308.html
S'pore may not play host
By Terrence Voon
SINGAPORE'S troubled Sports Hub project is unlikely to be completed in time for the 2013 South-east Asia Games, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan confirmed on Wednesday.
He said the Government will not be rushed into completing the $1.87 billion project at Kallang, which has been plagued by repeated delays since a private consortium won the bid to build the 35ha facility in January last year.
'Quite frankly, I think it is unlikely that it will be ready for the 2013 SEA Games,' Dr Balakrishnan told reporters at a Youth Olympic Games event on Wednesday.
'We're still discussing with the Singapore National Olympic Council and we'll take a decision later as to whether we'll put our hands up to host the 2013 SEA Games or to consider offering ourselves as a venue in the subsequent series of Games.'
His comments came after The Straits Times reported last month that the construction hiccups had jeopardised the Republic's hosting of the SEA Games.
Dr Balakrishnan sought to explain why the delays were inevitable because the Government did not want to over-spend on the facility, which includes a 55,000-seater dome-shaped National Stadium with a retractable roof.
'I'd rather be cautious and deliberate moving forward, but not be rushed into making hasty decisions or making decisions which will cost the tax payers more in the long run,' he added.
'I still want to work within the budget that we have set out for ourselves, but in due time there will be a Sports Hub which all of us can be very proud of.'
Read the actual article and letters from the readers here:-
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_436308.html
S'pore may not host 2013 SEA Games
This is a disgrace. Giving up the SEA Games. Beijing did not give up hosting the Olympics did they...but then well the Chinese are more capable than Singaporeans I suppose. So we are just going to surrender it to Malaysia or Indonesia. The Thais had just successfully hosted it in a town I never heard of prior to the last SEA Games. And here we are in a city which had just hosted the 2nd F1 race, we can't make it. Surely a leap backwards for mainstream Singapore sports.
S'pore may not host 2013 SEA Games as building of Sports Hub may be delayed
By Tan Yo-Hinn, Channel NewsAsia Posted: 30 September 2009 1605 hrs
SINGAPORE : Singapore's hosting of the 2013 Southeast Asia (SEA) Games may be in doubt after the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Vivian Balakrishnan revealed that the completion of the Sports Hub may be delayed further.
The S$1.87-billion Sports Hub, which is slated to be the main venue for the biennial games, has suffered repeated delays due to the global economic downturn.
While progress has been made to kick-start the project, it may not be completed in time for the 2013 SEA Games.
Dr Balakrishnan said a decision will be made soon on whether to continue with hosting the 2013 SEA Games, or to pass it up and host it in the future, the earliest of which is the 2015 SEA Games.
The Sports Hub, a public-private partnership project, was awarded to the Singapore Sports Hub Consortium last January and is to be built on a 35-hectare site in Kallang, featuring world class facilities, including a 55,000 National Stadium with a retractable roof. - CNA /ls
S'pore may not host 2013 SEA Games as building of Sports Hub may be delayed
By Tan Yo-Hinn, Channel NewsAsia Posted: 30 September 2009 1605 hrs
SINGAPORE : Singapore's hosting of the 2013 Southeast Asia (SEA) Games may be in doubt after the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Vivian Balakrishnan revealed that the completion of the Sports Hub may be delayed further.
The S$1.87-billion Sports Hub, which is slated to be the main venue for the biennial games, has suffered repeated delays due to the global economic downturn.
While progress has been made to kick-start the project, it may not be completed in time for the 2013 SEA Games.
Dr Balakrishnan said a decision will be made soon on whether to continue with hosting the 2013 SEA Games, or to pass it up and host it in the future, the earliest of which is the 2015 SEA Games.
The Sports Hub, a public-private partnership project, was awarded to the Singapore Sports Hub Consortium last January and is to be built on a 35-hectare site in Kallang, featuring world class facilities, including a 55,000 National Stadium with a retractable roof. - CNA /ls
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
THE clock is ticking as Singapore awaits...
THE clock is ticking as Singapore awaits the outcome of discussions between the government and the consortium tasked with building the country’s $1.87 billion Sports Hub... Read all about it in a Business Times commentary today.
Let's get real on the Sports Hub
By LEE U-WEN (Business Times 29-September 2009)
THE clock is ticking as Singapore awaits the outcome of discussions between the government and the consortium tasked with building the country’s $1.87 billion Sports Hub.
The mega-project in Kallang – originally scheduled to be ready by end-2010 but which will now be completed only in mid-2013 at the earliest – has been delayed time and again, chiefly due to financial and legal issues.
It’s time for the authorities and other relevant parties to come clean and make clear their plans for the hub going forward, because whatever they say will have a bearing on the Republic’s ambitions to be a major player in the international sporting arena.
The Singapore Sports Hub Consortium must set itself a deadline to decide on what to do next. Pick a date (the sooner the better), work within that timeframe and come up with a firm working plan on how the hub should progress, after factoring in all the various stumbling blocks.
In the event that securing bank loans is still a problem next year – a distinct possibility, given the scale and budget of the Sports Hub – then a Plan B must be activated.
Perhaps the hub could be scaled down for now so that at least some of the facilities are built first, with the rest to follow at a later date. Is it possible to build the national stadium and aquatic centre first, for instance, and then construct the other facilities some time after that?
As things stand, the government is sticking by its earlier statement that it remains in active discussion with the consortium to help resolve the funding issues. The agreement now is for the consortium to provide the necessary funds to build the infrastructure and carry out the programming. The government would, in turn, pay the consortium for labour and operational costs over a 25-year period.
But no matter which way you look at it, it is already uncharacteristic by Singapore’s standards for a national project to be delayed nearly three years – and possibly even longer, given that the consortium has yet to sign the final contract with the Singapore Sports Council. It is set to do so by year-end.
A project of this scale is by no means easy to plan and execute. Like all other sports fans, I am eagerly awaiting the day when we finally have a world-class Sports Hub that we can call our own and be proud of. Under the circumstances, the least we can expect is some clear direction on the next course of action, as well as the various options available.
The ball is now firmly in the court of the government and the consortium to provide the many answers that the sporting public craves.
The writter seems to be thinking exactly what is on my mind.
"In the event that securing bank loans is still a problem next year – a distinct possibility, given the scale and budget of the Sports Hub – then a Plan B must be activated."
Precisely what SSHC should be doing. Get rid of the current SSHC CEO. He doesn't even know what Plan A is let alone device a Plan B.
Let's get real on the Sports Hub
By LEE U-WEN (Business Times 29-September 2009)
THE clock is ticking as Singapore awaits the outcome of discussions between the government and the consortium tasked with building the country’s $1.87 billion Sports Hub.
The mega-project in Kallang – originally scheduled to be ready by end-2010 but which will now be completed only in mid-2013 at the earliest – has been delayed time and again, chiefly due to financial and legal issues.
It’s time for the authorities and other relevant parties to come clean and make clear their plans for the hub going forward, because whatever they say will have a bearing on the Republic’s ambitions to be a major player in the international sporting arena.
The Singapore Sports Hub Consortium must set itself a deadline to decide on what to do next. Pick a date (the sooner the better), work within that timeframe and come up with a firm working plan on how the hub should progress, after factoring in all the various stumbling blocks.
In the event that securing bank loans is still a problem next year – a distinct possibility, given the scale and budget of the Sports Hub – then a Plan B must be activated.
Perhaps the hub could be scaled down for now so that at least some of the facilities are built first, with the rest to follow at a later date. Is it possible to build the national stadium and aquatic centre first, for instance, and then construct the other facilities some time after that?
As things stand, the government is sticking by its earlier statement that it remains in active discussion with the consortium to help resolve the funding issues. The agreement now is for the consortium to provide the necessary funds to build the infrastructure and carry out the programming. The government would, in turn, pay the consortium for labour and operational costs over a 25-year period.
But no matter which way you look at it, it is already uncharacteristic by Singapore’s standards for a national project to be delayed nearly three years – and possibly even longer, given that the consortium has yet to sign the final contract with the Singapore Sports Council. It is set to do so by year-end.
A project of this scale is by no means easy to plan and execute. Like all other sports fans, I am eagerly awaiting the day when we finally have a world-class Sports Hub that we can call our own and be proud of. Under the circumstances, the least we can expect is some clear direction on the next course of action, as well as the various options available.
The ball is now firmly in the court of the government and the consortium to provide the many answers that the sporting public craves.
The writter seems to be thinking exactly what is on my mind.
"In the event that securing bank loans is still a problem next year – a distinct possibility, given the scale and budget of the Sports Hub – then a Plan B must be activated."
Precisely what SSHC should be doing. Get rid of the current SSHC CEO. He doesn't even know what Plan A is let alone device a Plan B.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Goodbye to Rugby World Cup 2019
Singapore wanted to ask Japan to allow a few matches of the 2019 Rugby World Cup to be held here. We boasted to them about our 55,000 spectator stadium. Well, we can kiss the Rugby World Cup goodbye. I seriously doubt Singapore will be able to convince anyone about staging any major event here with all these delays to the completion of the Kallang Sports Hub.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Singapore sports cannot sell.
It is really sad that in the eyes of the corporate people here in Singapore the F1 brand is bigger than the Nation’s Stadium, Aquatic Center and Indoor Stadium combined. They (the corporate people) rush to associate themselves with the F1 name but shy away from contributing to the success of the Kallang Sports Hub.
Why else is it than so difficult for the consortium to secure the financing (it has been delayed for 3 years mind you) while it take just a matter of months to secure the building of the Changi Motorsports Hub.
The Singapore Sports Council (SSC) has done a good job of maximising the interest in the F1 night race. So congratulations to SSC. But what are you (SSC) doing about getting the Kallang Sports Hub up and running. You keep talking about a Team Singapore but you are not doing anything about building the infastructure for Team Singapore to call home.
The Kallang Hub is home to the sports Singaporean do - football, athelete, rugby, swimming, waterpolo, basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, canoeing, you name it. Our mainstream sports needs the National Stadium, Aquatic Center and Indoor Stadium to call home.
Ok, I must admit, a race track is a good thing. Finally a place for weekend local motor racing enthusiast to show case their talents. But what I am skeptical about is the genuine reason SSC is pushing to get it build. Come on, I mean, we have being asking for a permanent race track for ages – why only build it now and in such a hurry. The race track is not built because SSC suddenly has a heart for local racers. It is built so that millionare F1 drivers can make more millions in Singapore. Local racers will just be convenient source of income to pay for maintenance of the racetrack until Bernie Eccelstone’s circus returns the following year.
Why else is it than so difficult for the consortium to secure the financing (it has been delayed for 3 years mind you) while it take just a matter of months to secure the building of the Changi Motorsports Hub.
The Singapore Sports Council (SSC) has done a good job of maximising the interest in the F1 night race. So congratulations to SSC. But what are you (SSC) doing about getting the Kallang Sports Hub up and running. You keep talking about a Team Singapore but you are not doing anything about building the infastructure for Team Singapore to call home.
The Kallang Hub is home to the sports Singaporean do - football, athelete, rugby, swimming, waterpolo, basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, canoeing, you name it. Our mainstream sports needs the National Stadium, Aquatic Center and Indoor Stadium to call home.
Ok, I must admit, a race track is a good thing. Finally a place for weekend local motor racing enthusiast to show case their talents. But what I am skeptical about is the genuine reason SSC is pushing to get it build. Come on, I mean, we have being asking for a permanent race track for ages – why only build it now and in such a hurry. The race track is not built because SSC suddenly has a heart for local racers. It is built so that millionare F1 drivers can make more millions in Singapore. Local racers will just be convenient source of income to pay for maintenance of the racetrack until Bernie Eccelstone’s circus returns the following year.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Kallang Sports Hub still no where to be seen and they are talking about building Changi Motorsports Hub
When I first heard the news, it was - Wow! Fantastic! Our very own race track. No more road closure at the marina area every time the F1 comes to Singapore. We may even secure a spot in the MotoGP calendar. Finally somewhere to rev up a WRX/EVO without worrying about getting a speeding ticket from the TP.Being a huge fan of motor racing, I was extremely please to hear the news. But as I read further I was suddenly hit with a 'deja vu'. It was probably the words Sports Hub and the involvement of SSC and the Ministry of community developement, youth and sports (MCYS). It somehow rang a bell. Wasn't the SSC also involved in another project bearing the words Sports Hub. This was when I remembered - "Hey, Where is our new National Stadium, our new Aquatic Center and our new Indoor Stadium. Where is our Kallang Sports Hub" (See post bellow).
I am sure SSC under the purview of MCYS knows what they are doing. By all means we must have a permanent race track but shouldn't we be doing one thing at a time. Lack of funds was mentioned as a contributing factor for the delays in the building of the Kallang Sports Hub. So what makes SSC think people are going to start pumping money into the Changi Motorsports Hub. Assuming funds will start flowing in once the economic crisis blows over - what must our priority be? Should we put the hard-to-come-by funds into building a Motor Sports Hub or our Mainstream Sports Hub? Though a huge motorsport fan I may be, I will definitely feel like laughing if a F1 race track got build ahead of the National Stadium. F1 is not the pride of our nation. The National Stadium is.
Where is our Kallang Sports Hub?
Aug 28, 2009
2010 - 2011 - 2012 - 2013?
SEA Games hosting at risk
Sports Hub delays could mean it may not be fully ready for 2013 Games
By Leonard Lim (TheStraitsTimes)
Delays continue to dog the Sports Hub, with the earliest completion date for the troubled $1.87 billion project at Kallang now understood to be 2013.
This has put Singapore's hosting of the 2013 South-east Asia Games in jeopardy. Some senior sports officials have privately raised the possibility that Singapore may have to forgo hosting that year's SEA Games if there are further delays. Should that happen, it would be a major blow to the Republic, which had hoped to use the biennial multi-sport extravaganza to showcase the world-class facility - the centrepiece of which will be a 55,000-seater dome-shaped National Stadium with a retractable roof.
The Singapore Sports Hub Consortium (SSHC) hopes to sign the final contract with the Singapore Sports Council by year-end, said Mr Ludwig Reichhold, managing director of construction firm Dragages Singapore, yesterday. Dragages is the lead agency of the consortium that trumped bids from two other groups in January last year. The contract was to have been inked in March last year but was delayed by financial and legal nitty-gritty. The SSHC hopes to pull down the National Stadium by the first quarter of next year. The demolition will take about three months.
Construction of the hub can then begin and will take about three years to finish. But a source said: 'Even with this timeline, a completion date of mid-2013 is still touch and go.'
The hub is a public-private partnership (PPP) project. This means the Government will pay the SSHC - which will design, build, and operate the facility - a monthly unitary payment throughout the project's 25-year term once the final contract is inked. But since the project was announced in 2005, its completion date has been pushed back repeatedly - from 2010, to 2011, then 2012 and now 2013.
This has kept sporting enthusiasts hoping to use the facilities, like a public water sports centre and indoor aquatic centre, waiting. It also means a longer wait for Singaporeans to watch star sporting events like the Twenty20 cricket matches, which the SSHC had promised to bring to the hub.
The delays have also partly stemmed from the SSHC's difficulty in raising funds as financial institutions tightened lending requirements following the economic downturn late last year. The finances for the hub have not been settled but a London-based publication, Infrastructure Journal, said in April that the Singapore Government stood ready to step in and bail out the struggling project.
Mr Reichhold declined comment on this, and an SSC spokesman said there were no updates for now in response to queries on the Sports Hub. If the Government gets involved - possibly by providing part of the financing or some form of debt guarantee - it would change the nature of the project, which was to have been fully funded by the private sector. Another reason for the delay: The SSHC is believed to be toying with the idea of building some facilities at a later stage so as to lower construction costs at the start.
According to the sports council's tender specifications, the 35ha site must have a 6,000-capacity indoor aquatic centre, a 3,000-capacity multi-purpose arena, a public water sports centre, and 41,000sqm of shopping, leisure and dining facilities, on top of the new National Stadium. Facilities in the SSHC's proposal which could be dropped or built later include a whitewater rafting facility, an indoor karting arena, and a water adventure playground with flumes and slides.
'We're still in talks over the whole matter, but we definitely want to finalise the contract as soon as possible,' said Mr Reichhold.
2010 - 2011 - 2012 - 2013?
SEA Games hosting at risk
Sports Hub delays could mean it may not be fully ready for 2013 Games
By Leonard Lim (TheStraitsTimes)
Delays continue to dog the Sports Hub, with the earliest completion date for the troubled $1.87 billion project at Kallang now understood to be 2013.
This has put Singapore's hosting of the 2013 South-east Asia Games in jeopardy. Some senior sports officials have privately raised the possibility that Singapore may have to forgo hosting that year's SEA Games if there are further delays. Should that happen, it would be a major blow to the Republic, which had hoped to use the biennial multi-sport extravaganza to showcase the world-class facility - the centrepiece of which will be a 55,000-seater dome-shaped National Stadium with a retractable roof.
The Singapore Sports Hub Consortium (SSHC) hopes to sign the final contract with the Singapore Sports Council by year-end, said Mr Ludwig Reichhold, managing director of construction firm Dragages Singapore, yesterday. Dragages is the lead agency of the consortium that trumped bids from two other groups in January last year. The contract was to have been inked in March last year but was delayed by financial and legal nitty-gritty. The SSHC hopes to pull down the National Stadium by the first quarter of next year. The demolition will take about three months.
Construction of the hub can then begin and will take about three years to finish. But a source said: 'Even with this timeline, a completion date of mid-2013 is still touch and go.'
The hub is a public-private partnership (PPP) project. This means the Government will pay the SSHC - which will design, build, and operate the facility - a monthly unitary payment throughout the project's 25-year term once the final contract is inked. But since the project was announced in 2005, its completion date has been pushed back repeatedly - from 2010, to 2011, then 2012 and now 2013.
This has kept sporting enthusiasts hoping to use the facilities, like a public water sports centre and indoor aquatic centre, waiting. It also means a longer wait for Singaporeans to watch star sporting events like the Twenty20 cricket matches, which the SSHC had promised to bring to the hub.
The delays have also partly stemmed from the SSHC's difficulty in raising funds as financial institutions tightened lending requirements following the economic downturn late last year. The finances for the hub have not been settled but a London-based publication, Infrastructure Journal, said in April that the Singapore Government stood ready to step in and bail out the struggling project.
Mr Reichhold declined comment on this, and an SSC spokesman said there were no updates for now in response to queries on the Sports Hub. If the Government gets involved - possibly by providing part of the financing or some form of debt guarantee - it would change the nature of the project, which was to have been fully funded by the private sector. Another reason for the delay: The SSHC is believed to be toying with the idea of building some facilities at a later stage so as to lower construction costs at the start.
According to the sports council's tender specifications, the 35ha site must have a 6,000-capacity indoor aquatic centre, a 3,000-capacity multi-purpose arena, a public water sports centre, and 41,000sqm of shopping, leisure and dining facilities, on top of the new National Stadium. Facilities in the SSHC's proposal which could be dropped or built later include a whitewater rafting facility, an indoor karting arena, and a water adventure playground with flumes and slides.
'We're still in talks over the whole matter, but we definitely want to finalise the contract as soon as possible,' said Mr Reichhold.
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