(Capas Mayor Reynaldo Catacutan (2nd from left) poses with members of the Pampanga Press Club at the New Clark City last Monday.)
Host municipality Capas is all geared up as facilities for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games gets near completion.
Mayor Rey Catacutan said that the town and province of Tarlac is ready to receive delegations and spectators at the New Clark City (NCC), located in Barangay Arengoreng, where a new athletic stadium, aquatics center and other sporting facilities are being rushed for the biennial meet.
“Capas is very much ready in hosting the SEA Games considering that all roads leading to the sports city of the Philippines will be turned over by October 15, including the stadium and aquatics center,” Catacutan said in an interview.
The SEA Games are slated on November 30. Clark will serve as a major venue host.
Almost Finish
Catacutan said the new athletics stadium is already 80 percent finish while the aquatics center is at 75 percent. He said they are expecting more than a million visitors made up of foreign and domestic tourists in the 20-day duration of the regional meet in Capas town.
These new facilities are certified by international sporting bodies.
Earlier, Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) president Vince Dizon said that all facilities for SEA Games at NCC are ahead of schedule with the round the clock construction work .
There are also new highways being built including a connection via the SCTEX that will cut through Macrthur Highway in Bamban then onto the Capas-Botolan road. Another major road will be a 17-kilometer long highway from Clark Freeport to NCC with connection to the new terminal of Clark International Airport.
BCDA and its Joint Venture partner MTD Capital Berhad (MTDCB) of Malaysia is building the initial development stages of the 9,450-hectare disaster-resilient NCC.
MTD Philippines, a subsidiary of MTDCB, is building the 200-hectare Phase 1 of the National Government Administrative Center (NGAC) in NCC that will house world-class facilities to be used for the 2019 SEA Games.
Also included in the Phase 1 are back-up offices of various government agencies to ensure continues business operations in cases of disasters or calamities in Metro Manila.
Added Attraction
The newly-reelected mayor also plans on putting up a one-hectare Christmas village for athletes and spectators especially at night time.
The “added attraction” he said will feature winners of the Belenismo contest in Tarlac province as well as the famous lanterns made in nearby town of Gerona.
“We will open a business center with DTI in order for us to feature various products under OTOP (one town one product) where “pasalubongs and pagkains” will be available.
On the long term, he said Capas will open a Central Business District inside the areas allocated for “city government of Capas” inside the NCC.
