By Xinhua
Beijing : The cost of constructing the venues for the Olympics has been less than 13 billion yuan (about $1.8 billion), Beijing vice mayor Chen Gang has said.
“We always encouraged frugality in the build-up to the Games,” Chen told a press briefing here Monday.
According to Chen, the cost of the National Stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest, was no more than 3.5 billion yuan ($486 million). The central and local governments have contributed half of the cost with the remainder coming from other investors and donations.
Chen also said that with National Aquatic Centre being delivered for use, all venues in Beijing except for the National Stadium have been completed.
Responding to media reports about the death of 10 workers at the construction site of the Bird’s Nest, the officials said that the number is not accurate.
“During the construction of the Bird’s Nest, there were two deaths, one in 2006 and one last year,” said Ding Zhenkuan, deputy-chief of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Work Safety.
“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,” he added.
Last week, British media reported that since the construction of the Bird’s Nest in 2003, at least 10 workers had died.
According to the officials, construction of the 91,000-seat showpiece venue, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies, is going smoothly and is scheduled for completion 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.
“Through the test events, all the venues have met the requirements of respective international sports federations,” said Xu Bo, director of Beijing 2008 Project Construction Headquarters Office.