China Alters New Stadium
Plans
Construction on the new
us$72 million dollar
national stadium, a gift
from China, should begin
in July after the
demolition of the
current stadium, a group
of Chinese
representatives said
after their inspection
of the site.
The new stadium,
however, will only seat
35.000 instead of the
45.000 announced by the
Arias government and
will not be ready until
May 2010, six months
later than originally
planned.
The work on the new
stadium will also be
made up mainly of
Chinese workers, who
will work on a 24 hour
basis, setting up camp
outside the stadium
construction site.
The Arias government had
announced that the
construction crew was
going to be made up
mainly of Costa Ricans
boosting the
construction employment
sector.
Another blow to the
original plans is that
the stadium will not
include offers for the
36 sports federations in
Costa Rica or for the
Instituto Costarricense
del Deporte y la
Recreación (ICODER) -
Costa Rican Sports and
Recreation Institute.
China's offer to build a
new stadium in Costa
Rica was made during
Costa Rican president
Oscar Arias' visit to
China last year. Since
the meeting the economic
and commercial
relationship between the
two countries has been
growing and there are
plans for increased
tourism exchange.
The current stadium
located on the western
edge of the Sabana park
that seats 15.000 has
stood since 1941 and in
urgent need of repairs,
it was decided to tear
it down when China made
its offer.
However, it appears that
Costa Rica has little
say in the matter as the
Chinese are taking a
"take it or leave it"
attitude, a bitter pill
for government officials
to swallow, since the
work has not yet started
and the project can
easily be shelved by
Chinese.
Will there be any more
surprises in store once
the work begins? |
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