Beijing vice mayor Chen Gang has said the construction of the venues for the 2008 Olympic Games cost less than RMB13 billion (about US$1.8 billion).

He told a press briefing: ‘We always encouraged frugality in the build-up to the Games.’

The cost of the National Stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest, was RMB3.5 billion (US$486 million). The central and local governments have contributed half of the cost with the remainder coming from other investors and donations.

Now with the National Aquatic Center delivered for use, all venues in Beijing except for the National Stadium have been completed.

There had been media reports — the Sunday Times in England leading the pack — that there had been ten deaths during the contrstruction of the National Stadium. Not so, said Ding Zhenkuan, deputy-chief of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Work Safety. He said, ‘During the construction of the Bird’s Nest, there were two deaths, one in 2006 and one last year.

‘We investigated the accidents and properly compensated the families with the guidance of national standards. People who were responsible for the accidents have been punished. All the accidents have been reported to relative departments.’

According to officials, construction of the 91,000-seat showpiece venue, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies, will be completed on schedule in April.

For the Beijing Games, 31 venues are needed for competitions and 45 for training. Up to now, 22 have been tried in test events.

Xu Bo, director of Beijing 2008 Project Construction Headquarters Office said, ‘Through the test events, all the venues have met the requirements of respective international sports federations.’ This is confirmed by every contestant who has seen them.
Source: EastDay