MANILA — The sports complex inside the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac will be finished by September next year, or two months before the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, according to a top official of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).
“The construction of the facilities are underway and our target is to finish the facilities by September next year,” BCDA President Vivencio Dizon said in a recent Palace economic press briefing.
Dizon said the world-class sports facilities must be finished two months before the biennial sports meet to be participated in by 10 countries in Southeast Asia.
“We have to test first these (sports facilities) for at least one month in time for the November 30 SEA Games (opening),” Dizon said.
Aside from host Philippines, SEA Games participating countries include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam
The BCDA, with its partner AllyMTD, started the pouring of concrete at the sports facilities on April 25 this year.
The sports complex is part of the 60-hectare Phase 1A project of the National Government Administrative Center, which broke ground in New Clark City earlier this year.
It has an athletics stadium that has a seating capacity of 20,000, with a track and field oval and an aquatics center that can accommodate 2,000 people.
The sports facilities are being constructed based on the standards set by world governing bodies such as the International Amateur and Athletics Federation (IAAF) and the Federacion International de Natation (FINA).
The National Government Administrative Center has a total land area of 200 hectares and was envisioned to house the satellite offices of various government agencies.
Dizon said the construction of the facilities inside the new New Clark City will be finished within the term of President Rodrigo Duterte. (Jelly Musico/PNA)
