Source : Straits Times - 4 Feb 2009
THE Singapore Sports Hub Consortium (SSHC) is having difficulty securing the funds necessary to start the project in Kallang in the light of the current credit crunch, Parliament heard yesterday.
The Government is now in ‘active discussions’ with the consortium to address this, and the options available to move Singapore’s biggest sports project forward, said Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, Minister of State (Community Development, Youth and Sports).
‘Discussions are still ongoing. When ready, we’ll make an announcement on how we intend to proceed with the project,’ she said of the 35ha Kallang Sports Hub, which has already faced several delays.
She was responding to questions from Madam Ho Geok Choo (West Coast GRC) on whether the Government will prevent further delays to the project and make credit more readily available to the consortium.
The SSHC - led by construction firm Dragages Singapore and including companies such as the World Sport Group and DP Architects - won the bid for the project in January last year, defeating two other groups.
The hub was estimated to cost the Government $1.87 billion over 25 years. The bill included $1.2 billion for construction costs, with maintenance and operating expenditure making up the remainder.
A final contract that was to be signed last March between the Government - represented by the Singapore Sports Council - and the consortium, was delayed. The delay was believed to be due to funding and contractual issues. It remains unsigned.
In October last year, sources told The Straits Times that the project, originally due for completion next year, had been pushed back to 2012. The volatile financial crisis and rising construction costs were cited as the reasons.
Yesterday, Mrs Yu-Foo explained that the Sports Hub is a public-private partnership project. This means the consortium would provide the necessary funds to build the infrastructure and carry out the programming.
The Government would in turn pay the consortium for the labour costs and for operating the facilities over a 25-year period, she added.
Madam Ho asked if there was a final deadline beyond which the project could not be postponed further, given that its strategic aim is also to ‘broaden future growth and employment opportunities for Singaporeans’.
She also asked if the ministry could provide an analysis of the potential lost revenue from deferred or lost sporting events due to the delay.
Responding to these supplementary questions was Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports.
His ministry would not be able to disclose such details as negotiations were ongoing, he said.
‘I do not want to make any public announcements on deadlines or analysis of losses because that would compromise our negotiating position.’
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