(BCDA officials tour Senators Ping Lacson and Gregorio Honasan at the SEA Games venue in New Clark City. Contributed Photo)
CLARK FREEPORT – The Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) has reported to visiting senators over 80 percent completion of the 20,000-seater Athletics Stadium, the 2,000-seater Aquatics Center and the 1.4-kilometer Riverpark at the venue of the Southeast Asian Games later this year at the New Clark City.
BCDA president-CEO Vince Dizon toured recently Sen. Gregorio Honasan II and Sen. Panfilo Lacson to the site covering Phase 1A of the P120-billion New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.
The sports complex would be fully finished before Oct.15 in time for the 30th SEA Games in November.
Also expected to be finished this year under Phase 1A is the National Government Administrative Center (NGAC) where national government offices are slated to be transferred, much like the government center in Putrajaya in Malaysia.
Five buildings of The Residences and two buildings of the Athlete’s Village will be completed before the games, BCDA said.
The Residences is a 500-unit housing project to benefit thousands of government workers to be moved to NGAC while the Athlete’s Village is part of the worldclass sports facilities to be used for the Philippines’ hosting of the 30th SEA Games.
“Full government support is key in any world-class development and we’re fortunate that a respected institution such as the Senate got to see the huge progress we made here in New Clark City,” Dizon noted.
He lauded Congress for “playing a big role in inspiring the creation of more ambitious projects that provide comfort and growth to our people.”
Lacson lauded the progress of work at the New Clark City, saying “this is an example of hard work and efficiency paying off ,” describing the project as “a dream becoming a reality because the people assigned here are performance- oriented.”
For his part, Honasan said “this is a classic example of what happens if there is a political will.”
The 200-hectare mixed-used government center, meant to decentralize state offices from the capital, will primarily host offices of various government agencies.
Nearly 10,000 athletes from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam are expected to gather at Clark from November 30 to December 10 for the SEA Games.
