A world-class stadium will be built in Kaohsiung before the opening of the 2009 World Games in the city, acting Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said yesterday.
The acting mayor said that he is confident that Kaohsiung will be an exemplary host and that Taiwan will be proud.
Speaking to Taiwanese media immediately after receiving the flag of the World Games from International World Games Association chairman Ron Froehlich at the closing ceremony of the 2005 Games, Chen said that hosting big events like the World Games is a demonstration of a city's international competitiveness.
Chen, who led a 400-member delegation from Kaohsiung to the host city of Duisburg for the 2005 World Games, said that members of the Kaohsiung team, including officials from the Kaohsiung City Government, have picked up valuable tips on hosting the World Games.
Noting that preparations have already begun, Chen said that the Kaohsiung City Government plans to build the main stadium for the 2009 World Games with NT$5.35 billion (US$168.77 million) that has been allocated by the central government as a special project.
The next World Games will be in Kaohsiung July 16 to July 26 in 2009, with over 3,200 athletes from 90 countries around the world taking part in more than 30 events.
The main stadium, to be located at an abandoned naval base in Tsoying (左營), Kaohsiung City, will seat 50,000 and have a 400m track-and-field competition arena.
The Kaohsiung City Government has sponsored three workshops for international bidders, builders and contractors, Chen said, adding that contracts for the development of the main stadium and other peripheral facilities will be signed by the end of this year and the winning bidders should begin their designs early next year.
Groundbreaking for the stadium is scheduled to begin in July next year and construction will start in 2007, with the facility expected to be finished by January 2009, Chen said.
The World Games is a global athletic competition of sports not included in the Olympic Games. It will be the largest-ever international sports event held in Taiwan.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
TRANSPORT DISRUPTION: More than 100 ferry services were suspended due to rough seas and strong winds, and eight domestic flights were canceled, the ministry said Tropical Storm Wipha intensified slightly yesterday as it passed closest to Taiwan, dumping more than 200mm of rain in Hualien and Taitung counties, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 11am, Wipha was about 210km southwest of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and was moving west-northwest at 27km per hour (kph). The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 101kph and gusts reaching 126kph, with a 150km radius of strong winds, CWA data showed. Wipha’s outer rainbands began sweeping across Taiwan early yesterday, delivering steady rainfall in the east and scattered showers in other regions, forecasters said. More heavy rain was expected, especially in the eastern
RSS